The daily fantasy sports and sports betting operator has launched a PA sportsbook app for both Android and iOS.
DraftKings is running a sports betting special. All new players get a $50 free bet. Receive 20% up to $1,000 with your first deposit.
PA online sports betting is up and running. Multiple Pennsylvania sports betting sites are operating in the Keystone State, and many more expected to come online soon. Pennsylvania sports bettors also have access to a variety of retail sportsbooks throughout the state.
This complete Pennsylvania sports betting guide will cover those locations, as well as the online sports betting sites. Additionally, the guide includes instructions for new bettors on how to place a bet. You’ll also find information on the betting apps, depositing and withdrawing, types of bet you can place — and the sports you can bet on right now in Pennsylvania.
The daily fantasy sports and sports betting operator has launched a PA sportsbook app for both Android and iOS.
DraftKings is running a sports betting special. All new players get a $50 free bet. Receive 20% up to $1,000 with your first deposit.
Thanks to a partnership with Valley Forge Casino, the FanDuel Sportsbook app is available in Pennsylvania.
As part of their new player special, FanDuel is offering players up to a $1,000 risk-free bet. This offer only applies to your first bet. As an example, if you bet $100 on the 49ers (and they lose), FanDuel will refund that bet.
FOX Bet entered the PA sports betting, utilizing the license of land-based partner Mount Airy Casino Resort. They offer wide-range of markets and a user-friendly sports betting app.
FOX Bet offers a $500 risk-free bet when you signup. Note: Must opt-in on promotions page to claim risk-free bet with 7 days of registration. Make your first bet within a week to qualify.
Apple restricts new gambling apps from its App Store until they are re-created in Apple’s programming language. The only exception to this is FanDuel, which does have a sportsbook app in the App Store. It uses the same app in both NJ and PA.
While Google has some restrictions, there are alternative ways of getting apps onto your Android devices. You can download these directly from sportsbook websites. While you will need to click some warning messages about “unknown sources,” the process is straightforward.
With the soft launch of the Barstool Sportsbook app (Sept. 15-17), courteously of Penn National Gaming, PA customers no have ten mobile sportsbooks to choose from. In time, Penn National plans to convert all its physical sportsbooks to Barstool branded sportsbooks.
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There are sometimes advantages to being second. When New Jersey launched its online gambling sites, there were a lot of issues with geolocation. Since the law strictly prohibits the books from allowing bets or real money deposits outside of state borders, it is important to locate app users accurately.
What happened initially in New Jersey was “false negatives.” Players close to the border had their access or deposits blocked. Fortunately, by the time apps arrived in Pennsylvania, this issue was mostly fixed.
For desktop devices, the technology will triangulate your known location with Wi-Fi data. For mobile devices without Wi-Fi switched on, there might still be the occasional issue next to the border. If this affects you too often, you can download additional software to assess your location more accurately.
You will be able to access your accounts from outside of PA, though bets and deposits are strictly prohibited.
With sports betting banned under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) for so many years, this area will be brand new to many people. This section covers what you need to get started with sports betting online in Pennsylvania. This includes the types of bets you can place, how to register and verify your online sports betting account and how to deposit (and withdraw your winnings).
Bets: You can place a lot of different bets at the new sportsbooks. By breaking these down into simple categories, you won’t have to remember the whole list until you get more familiar with the apps and sites.
There are sport-specific bets, and period betting is also available for many sports. If you are brand new to online sports betting, you may want to stick with the simple single bets, e.g., spread or moneyline, while you get used to the platform.
All of the current Pennsylvania online sportsbooks include how-to information, taking you step-by-step through how to place bets. If you are new to wagering and need some basic info first, read our beginner’s guide to sports betting.
Since many sports have year-round interest, it makes sense that many fans want to be able to bet on what they love at any time. They can do just that these days thanks to the futures market, which is an area of sports betting that continues to grow in popularity.
As the name implies, futures are wagers you can place on an event that will happen at a later date. Think this is the year of the Philadelphia Eagles to win their second Super Bowl? There’s a futures bet for that if your betting online in PA.
Do you have a really good feel on the Villanova Wildcats making it to the NCAAB Final Four next time around? You can bet on that too. Is Bryce Harper in store for a big rebound season in which he wins the NL MVP award? Yep, there’s a wager for that too.
For each of the major team-based sports, you’ll find a number of different futures markets. Here are the most popular ones for each sport, all of which see tons of betting action.
While betting on the champions of the respective leagues really moves the needle for futures, there are a number of other opportunities to consider for each sport, including:
Futures betting also goes beyond the teams with markets on individual player performance, such as:
The odds for futures wagers are released in advance of the regular season for the individual sports. On the bets that receive lots of action – Super Bowl, World Series, etc. – they’ll be out soon after the current edition is in the books. For everything else, you should see futures odds by at least a month or two before the season start date
A typical futures listing goes in descending order with the favorites at the top, longshots on the bottom, and everyone else in the middle. For example, NHL Stanley Cup odds will be listed for all teams from top to bottom, and nestled in there will be odds for the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.
After bettors begin placing wagers, the odds can move based on betting action, so keep that in mind. For example, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers might have initial odds of +500 for league MVP, but a flood of action in his direction could see the odds shorten to +400 or so.
Futures are a great way to stay engaged with the sports you love all year round, and the markets also make for a fantastic snapshot of the current lay of the land. Even better, a well-timed futures bet that breaks your way can return a really nice profit.
All states have a restriction for betting on high-school sports events, and Pennsylvania is no exception.
There are options for placing bets at casinos, racetracks, off-track betting (OTB) facilities and, of course, online betting in Pennsylvania. This section covers all of these with locations and opening hours information for each. You will also find information covering betting on horse racing below. The treatment there is different from sports betting; websites plus live betting have been around for a while.
Before getting to the venues, here are the most popular sports, with an emphasis on the local PA teams.
With representation in the major leagues in all the main sports, PA residents and visitors can now enjoy wagers on all of their favorite teams. Below are the opportunities to bet on local NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA games.
Some bets are common to all sports (moneyline, totals and spreads). You will also find many individual bet types covering each sport. You’ll find these by locating your match in a sportsbook app or website, then click the “more bets” or “all bets” link.
Major sports will also see inclusion in the live betting options, which means you’ll be able to place wagers while the match is underway.
Pennsylvania is home to two hockey teams:
With two teams in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, there are regular rivalry matches. This fierce rivalry is known as the “Battle of Pennsylvania.” Things reached fever pitch on four occasions in recent years — when the two teams met in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
You can bet on the conference winners and Stanley Cup results at the start of the season. When it comes to individual NHL matches, you can enjoy period betting for each of the three periods, first (or next) goal scorer and correct scores. Spreads are known as the “puck line” in hockey betting.
The Keystone State is home to two major football teams. Again, these are located in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh:
With the two PA football teams in different conferences, matches between them are rare, only once every four years. Both teams have a rich history, established in 1933.
NFL betting includes many unique wagers. Under the “props” heading you’ll be able to bet the under or over for each quarterback’s yards, or the running back’s yards/carries. Bets on the first team or even player to score are also popular. The NFL is also a popular sport for teaser bets and regular parlays.
As with the football teams, the two Major League Baseball teams in PA play in separate divisions. This means that their rivalries are with out-of-state teams. As with the other major sports, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have one team each:
The large number of fixtures in the MLB season — along with teams in two different divisions — mean that there are a lot of betting opportunities.
There are several bets unique to baseball. These include the popular “run line” bets. This is a variation of point spreads, which appear in many sports. Unlike regular spreads, which try to even up the teams’ chances, run lines are always plus or minus 1.5 points.
Prop bets include the number of strikeouts per pitcher, or hits per batter. You can combine the total number of runs, hits and errors in the popular R + H + E props. Bets on the first five innings are also available.
Totals bets on the entire day’s action are the final unique MLB bet. If you can guess the under / over on the runs for all fixtures on a day, you could win the “grand salami.”
While the other major sports have two top-tier teams, basketball sees Pennsylvania represented only once in the top flight. This is the Philadelphia 76ers — usually known simply as the “Sixers.”
Dating back to 1946, the Sixers play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. They play at Wells Fargo Center, which the Flyers NHL team also calls home.
The high scoring nature of games means there is plenty of scope for totals and spread bets in the NBA. These can be team totals, match totals or even prop bets on totals for individual players. Quarter betting on the game periods is also possible.
A different way of approaching wins for NBA bets is to wager on a big or little win. A big win is 10 or more points, with a little win is 1-9. A fun way to bet is to select whether the total for both teams will be odd or even.
No sportsbook has an interest in making the registration process too difficult. At the same time, they need to protect against gambling by minors and add fraud prevention to stop multiple accounts.
Once you decide which books to play at, you’ll need to fill in some basic registration information. Your name, location and email will get things started. The sites might also ask for the last four digits of your Social Security number.
You can register an account via either the responsive websites of the sportsbooks or via the apps.
These steps will work with any of the PA sites listed above.
The benefit to using the links on this page is that you will always receive the best bonus offer at the PA sportsbooks.
Depending on the offer, your bonus might be available for use right away, or it might require you to place your first bet. Remember to read the terms and conditions to understand how the bonus works.
Regulation makes depositing at sportsbooks straightforward and safe. You’ll be able to use many of the regular payment options used for buying goods online. On top of these, there are some extra ways to pay at the license-holding casinos.
Here are your main options:
If it is possible to withdraw onto the same method you deposited with, that will be the default method. This serves as additional protection against money laundering. Common withdrawal methods include e-checks, PayPal (or similar), prepaid cards (branded ones) or via a paper check.
You can bet on horse races in three ways. First, head to the tracks and place a bet there on either live action or simulcasts for other tracks. Second, there are OTBs (many known as turf clubs) dotted around the state. You can also bet online on horse races. Separate sites exist for this, including BetAmerica, TVG, and TwinSpires. These sites are legal and US-based. They give you access to the parimutuel betting pools that operate at the tracks and OTB offices.
Note that the newly regulated PA sportsbooks do not offer betting on horse races.
Below are the racetracks in Pennsylvania:
The most famous horse in PA racing history is Smarty Jones. He won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2004 and finished second in the Belmont Stakes.
Pennsylvania has its own Grade 1 stakes. This is the Pennsylvania Derby. With a purse of $1 million, this event attracts the best 3-year-olds in the country. It is run over 9 furlongs on dirt at the Parx Racetrack.
Other famous races in PA include the Penn Mile Stakes, Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup Stakes and Greenwood Cup Stakes.
You can bet on horse races at tracks around the country, via off-track betting venues. Simulcast streams and access to parimutuel betting pools are available at the six horse racing tracks. In addition, there are seven “turf club” venues.
These show races and allow you to bet, and they have bar and dining options. Note that the Valley Forge Turf Club already allows sports betting in addition to horse racing bets.
In addition to all the options for online sports betting, Pennsylvania is also home to more than a dozen retail sportsbooks. Many of these locations are inside PA casino properties. However, you can also find sports betting at selected off-track betting locations. So, whether you are a resident or visitor to Pennsylvania, you have plenty of options for placing a wager in person. Here’s a rundown of all the locations:
Sports betting was included in the 2017 gaming expansion package, signed by Gov. Tom Wolf on October 30. At that time, New Jersey was challenging a long-standing federal law known as PASPA. This challenge went all the way to the Supreme Court. The court overturned PASPA in May of 2018.
That triggered a clause in HB 271 in Pennsylvania, allowing licensing for both live and online sportsbooks. Betting is legal on both pro sports and college fixtures. The key legal requirements are that bettors have to be 21 or older and inside state lines.
Licensing and regulation are under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. At $10 million per license upfront, plus an effective tax rate of 36%, sports betting is expected to create significant revenue for the state.
In the wake of sports betting’s sudden legitimacy in 2018, one fact that may have eluded most people is that the major sports leagues were responsible for the counterargument. The NCAA and the four major sports leagues filed suit against New Jersey to keep the state from conducting sports betting. If the leagues had their way, sports betting would still be reserved for Nevada only.
However, now that sports betting is out in the open and is (most importantly) making money, the leagues have undergone a decided shift in their attitudes. Instead of fighting against sports betting, many major sports teams and organizations are partnering with sports betting companies. This trend includes many teams in Pennsylvania, so here are all the sports betting partnerships in PA:
Several factors point to sports betting being a win-win for both the state and sports fans. First, the success of live and sports betting in New Jersey has shown that partnerships between technology providers, betting brands and local casinos are effective. Revenues have already beaten expectations in New Jersey. With a larger population, Pennsylvania revenues could be potentially even bigger.
Like any new endeavor, there are some issues to overcome. Difficulty with apps for Apple devices, the future introduction of sports betting and online casinos in New York and the relatively high tax rate on bets are all factors to consider.
Yes! By virtue of a 2017 state law and the Supreme Court’s strike-down of PASPA, Pennsylvania has legalized sports betting.
Yes, PA sports bettors can legally bet at FanDuel Sportsbook or DraftKings Sportsbook. You have two options, bet online using the Fanduel app or by visiting Fanduel at the Valley Forge Casino or DraftKings at the Meadows.
While offshore betting sites are legal within the jurisdiction they are based in (usually Caribbean island nations), they are not recognized or regulated by any US jurisdiction. With no safety checks, oversight or means of recourse in the event of a dispute, offshore betting sites are extremely risky.
With regulated, safe sports betting sites now in Pennsylvania, there are no advantages of offshore sites that would balance out those risks.
If you are using an Android device, you’ll be able to download this from the PA sportsbook website.
iPhone and iPad will run into issues. For a while, it looked like no Apple users were able to use the PA online casinos or sportsbooks until the brands recode their apps using Apple’s proprietary programming language.
Now, a handful of sports betting sites have a workaround for iOS or in the case of Fanduel, a native app for iPhone and iPad.
The workaround requires the GeoGuard app. This will verify the player’s location first, and then they can proceed to play and bet.
Some online sportsbooks offer the option to redeem bets early, and others do not. You can find more information through our sportsbook reviews.
Yes, though betting on horse racing and sports is handled separately. You’ll need to visit a PA horse betting site or download the app. These sites have been running nationwide for many years.
Yes, although, not all betting sites accept PayPal. PayPal is perfect for people who do not want to link their bank or credit cards directly with an online betting site.
Most types of bets and sports are legal to bet on in Pennsylvania.
The only major restrictions are non-sporting novelty contests, esports betting and betting on games of skill (in bars and malls, for example). People directly employed in sports like coaches or officials can’t bet on their leagues.
High school sporting events of any kind are not permitted for wagering. This rule will likely be universal no matter which state you visit. However, you can bet on college sports, even on PA teams playing in the state.
Olympic sports will likely be available. However, there may be some variation in availability on a case-by-case basis.
If you have self-excluded from gambling, then it is the sportsbook’s responsibility to ensure you can’t place bets.
All Pennsylvania online sportsbooks offer players the ability to bet from their smartphones. Some offer apps, while others use website technology that automatically adjusts to your screen size. Apple users will need to wait until apps meet the company’s new guidelines.