SugarHouse Sportsbook began its three-day testing period in PA yesterday, signaling the unofficial launch of online sports betting in PA.
That’s the good news.
The… other… news is that there are still many questions and quite a bit of confusion as to what this means and whether or not you can bet, right now, today, on your phone.
Let’s try to answer as many as possible.
Yes. You can sign up to bet with SugarHouse Sportsbook in PA here. However, betting hours during the test period are extremely limited:
Further, SugarHouse, known for its many deposit options and the ease with which you can get money into your account in New Jersey (a problem for many legal sportsbooks), only has four deposit options currently available:
Personally, I can’t deposit (at any sportsbook) with my bank or credit card, and the next best option is usually bank account login (available at PointsBet in New Jersey) or echeck (direct bank account access). Those options, along with PayPal, are not yet available at SugarHouse in PA.
No, you can’t. SugarHouse’s sportsbook is not available in PA on any iOS device, but it should be eventually. Why? Rush Street, parent company of SugarHouse, is having a hard time getting the app approved by Apple, presumably because Apple doesn’t like apps that significantly resemble other apps, as would be the case with the PlaySugarHouse app in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This will almost certainly get smoothed over, but for now, SugarHouse Sportsbook PA is not available in the iOS App Store.
What’s more, you can’t even use mobile web on iOS, because SugarHouse must be able to check your location. On desktop, this is accomplished by forcing you to download geo-location software (safe and standard)– that is something you can’t do on iOS, and thus, you get this message when you try to access SugarHouse’s PA sportsbook on iOS:
Yes. The Google Play store doesn’t allow any gambling apps, but Android being a more open system than iOS you can direct download the SugarHouse app on Android when you visit this page (all legal sports betting apps function this way).
WELCOME TO OUR REPUBLIC. Sports gambling is not legalized at a federal level, and so each state, as you know, has to legalize it on their own. Pennsylvania requires sportsbooks to be contained within a separate app from what is available in New Jersey. This is not the case in, say, West Virginia, where DraftKings Sportsbook will soon go live and be contained within the same app that is available in New Jersey.
There is some confusion here as much has been made about the tax rates for online sports betting in PA. But that mostly applies to what operators have to pay to the state – a $10 million upfront fee and 36% of revenue – not the customer. Gambling winnings are taxed as personal income at both a state and federal level and technically all of it should be reported. Generally speaking, however, only larger winnings are reported to the IRS by casinos.
Completely locked out, Holmes.
It’s available as a direct download from SugarHouse.
Friday. But not on iOS.
This is Hall of Fame Legend reader Ian, and the answer is yes and no. We do work with SugarHouse, but currently we are not being compensated for promoting SugarHouse Sportsbook in PA. We expect to have that relationship in place soon.
This is a very loaded question. SugarHouse Sportsbook, in New Jersey, has some of the best deposit methods, but FanDuel Sportsbook and PointsBet have the best interface. DraftKings and PointsBet seem to offer the most varied live betting action.
Again, we’ll see how this shakes out in PA.
PointsBet is a very good app, which may eventually come to PA.
I use multiple in New Jersey. A good part of our betting analysis focuses on the value created by shopping at multiple sportsbooks. We are developing a tool that will allow you to see live in-game betting odds at several legal sportsbooks for just this purpose.
You’re welcome.
Fair. But that’s why it’s a testing period. Many sportsbooks in New Jersey were much more quiet about their testing period…
They’re owned by the same company. Rivers Sportsbook is coming very soon.
It might not be as simple as using the same account at FanDuel Sportsbook. But your point is well-taken.
Twitter poll– Seems a lot of you are in this boat: