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While legal sports betting in Ohio is still a month away, players can sneak peek and see two new Ohio sportsbooks immediately.
Namely, the sportsbooks at JACK Cleveland Casino and JACK Thistledown Racino opened on Nov. 23.
While visitors still can’t place bets, they can enjoy theater-style seating and large video walls as they watch important games and support their favorite teams.
JACK Cleveland and JACK Thistledown open their doors
JACK Entertainment will operate two of the five sportsbooks in Cuyahoga County, with the others owned by the Browns, Cavs and Guardians. Likewise, MGM Northfield Park will also run a sportsbook in northern Summit County.
The downtown casino and the racino located in North Randall were insipid by the style of Las Vegas sportsbooks. Both casinos offer unique features, including video walls, recliners, betting kiosks, table games, and slot machines.
The venues are built to take bets, as well as create Vegas-like excitement that doesn’t come with something like online betting.
According to Cleveland.com, the sportsbook is near the Prospect Avenue entrance on the first floor and includes:
- The 6,000-square-foot lounge
- Two 30-foot-wide video walls providing coverage of multiple games at once
- More TVs are scattered across the room
- Five betting windows staffed by workers
- 20 self-serve kiosks.
The downtown casino also has a table games pit, allowing players to access games like poker and roulette while staying in the sportsbook. The venue will also have a video poker bar for up to 12 people.
Spread across 4,200 square feet, the Thistledown Racino sportsbook is a bit smaller. The area will feature the following:
- A 30-foot-wide video wall
- Extra TVs placed across the room
- An 86-foot-long ticker where guests can see scores, betting odds and other information.
Thistledown’s sportsbook will have slot machines but will not offer table games. Players can only enjoy them at the state’s four casinos.
It is also worth mentioning that JACK Entertainment has a mobile sports betting license and has launched the betJACK app. Although the app is live, users can only place free-play bets for the time being. Real-play will be offered after Jan. 1.
betJACK app is offering free tokens
Before Ohio online sports betting kicks off in January, gaming enthusiasts of a legal age can register with several leading sportsbooks in the state. Apart from FanDuel, Caesars, BetMGM and Tipico, betJACK also allows an early registration process.
Players who create betJACK’s Training Camp accounts can place bets with free tokens and will automatically qualify to win prizes. As Adam Suliman, SVP of Sports & Digital Gaming for JACK Entertainment stated in the company’s press release:
“These giveaways provide Ohio sports fans with another reason to be excited about sports betting. They can practice using Ohio’s sports betting app and maybe score some great tickets to see their favorite local teams.”
Ohio online gambling fun starts on Jan. 1
Ohio’s sports gambling law was passed in December allowing three kinds of sports betting. It includes brick-and-mortar casinos, online betting and sports gaming kiosks that can be found in bars and bowling arenas.
So far, the state has allowed 40 licenses for retail sportsbooks to be issued, while Cuyahoga County is limited to just five.
