Polymarket is offering a $50 trading bonus to new users who fund an account with a $20 deposit on Indy 500 day, SportsHandle reported Sunday, May 24, 2026, and the funds can be used on Indy 500 contracts before the green flag at 12:45 p.m. ET and during the race.
SportsHandle says users redeem the bonus with referral code HANDLE; the promotion is keyed to new accounts funded with the $20 deposit and delivers $50 in trading credit to spend on prediction markets. SportsHandle also lists Alex Palou as the writer’s Indy 500 pick at +250 and notes the writer expects the 2025 champion to go back-to-back.
The practical numbers are small but specific: a $20 deposit triggers a $50 bonus and the race’s green flag was scheduled for 12:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 24, 2026. SportsHandle makes clear that would-be bettors must be 18 years or older and have a legal U.S. residential address in an eligible jurisdiction to sign up and use the offer.
Polymarket’s signup is listed for AK, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MN, MS, MO, NE, NH, NM, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY and Washington D.C.; the platform is not available in AZ, IL, MA, MD, MI, MT, NV, and OH, SportsHandle reported.
The offer is explicitly framed as a way to open and trade Indy 500 prediction contracts. Polymarket users can place wagers on the race winner, the top three finishers, the top five finishers, head-to-head matchups and other event markets, and the $50 credit can be applied to those contracts before the race starts or as the race unfolds.
SportsHandle also includes a reader tip pointing to information comparing Kalshi and Polymarket, signaling that the piece aimed to orient readers to platform differences as well as the bonus mechanics. In short, the story is both a timed promotion tied to a major sporting event and a brief guide to which tools and markets are open to new users on race day.
The friction in the offer is purely logistical: it is for new accounts only and it is geographically constrained. The list of eligible states is long but notable absences—Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada and Ohio—mean many would-be bettors are simply out of luck. The age and residency requirements further narrow who can collect and spend the $50 credit.
For an eligible fan, the math is straightforward. A $20 outlay unlocks $50 of tradable credit that can be used immediately on Indy 500 markets, including live-race trades once the green flag waves at 12:45 p.m. ET. For someone who wants to back a driver like Alex Palou at +250, the promotion converts a modest deposit into a larger position on race outcomes without a matching cash wager of the same size.
That is the bottom line: for Americans 18 and older living in the listed jurisdictions, the HANDLE referral offer makes it cheap to enter Polymarket’s Indy 500 markets on May 24, 2026; for residents of the excluded states, no amount of promotion changes the simple fact that Polymarket isn’t available to them.
