Pa Casinos With Sports Betting
And with online sports betting being legalized in Pennsylvania, many of the top PA online casinos also offer players the opportunity to bet on popular sports. Best Online Casinos PA Real Money Slots Of all the casino games that you can play at an online casino in Pennsylvania, slots are by far the most popular choice. Legal Online Sports Betting in PA. At the beginning of October 2018, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board awarded two sports betting licenses to casinos in the state. These licenses went to Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, which operates Parx Casino, and Hollywood Casino.
With sports betting now a prominent fixture in Pennsylvania, one of the best areas you’ll eventually find for a land-based wagering venue will be in Bethlehem. While there probably won’t be many Bethlehem sportsbooks, there should be at least one, as the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is a first-class venue that will surely want to provide its hundreds of thousands of annual visitors with a comprehensive sports wagering experience.
The only real question that most PA residents have is when exactly this sports wagering will be made available at the Sands Casino Resort. To that end, there are a few hurdles to overcome before any physical books can open in the region. However, it’s only a matter of time before PA residents can walk into a Bethlehem sportsbook and place a bet on their favorite Philadelphia and Pittsburgh teams.
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Is Sports Betting Currently Legal In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?
When the US Supreme Court repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA, 1992), it made it legal for states all across America to institute their own sports betting laws. Pennsylvania is one of the few states that saw the writing on the wall and preemptively passed sports betting legislation in anticipation of PASPA’s overturn, making such wagering legal per 2017’s Act 42.
However, before any PA residents can wager on sports at Bethlehem casinos, the books themselves need to be licensed and must meet a set of criteria. Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem has received this approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board but has yet to launch. After paying a $10 million licensing fee, the casino will need to create a structure that follows that the regulations set forth by the PGCB. Regardless of when this happens, sports betting in Bethlehem is indeed legal.
Of course, if you don’t want to wait for a Bethlehem sportsbook to open other options do exist: offshore sportsbooks. Bookmakers like Bovada, SportsBetting, BetOnline, MyBookie, BetDSI, and BookMaker have all been serving the PA area’s sports betting needs for decades, and they’re free, easy, and 100% legal to join and use. Until PA sportsbooks begin to open up shop inside the city, these legal overseas betting shops remain the best way to bet on Pennsylvania athletics.
Best Sportsbooks In Bethlehem
Currently, the best sportsbooks in Bethlehem, PA, are the existing online options mentioned above. These sites allow you to bet on sports both nationally and internationally every day of the year. However, once Bethlehem casinos and racinos open their sportsbooks to the betting public, the best sportsbook in the area will undoubtedly be the Sands Casino Resort.
While there is no hard timeline for when the Sands Casino Bethlehem sportsbook will go live, most industry insiders and gambling experts believe that such a book will launch sometime before the summer of 2020. Given that Pennsylvania is home to a pair of wildly popular NFL teams, football season is the logical deadline but, the financial reality of the current PA sports betting laws might make things take longer to get off the ground.
What Is The Minimum Legal Age To Use Bethlehem Sportsbooks?
The minimum age requirement for sports betting in PA is 21. Like most states and like every state age for being able to buy alcohol, 21 is the age that Pennsylvania and Erie sportsbooks will take. In all of the state's casinos, this is the age you have to be and an ID will be asked to make sure you are of age. Taking a risk to bet underage is not worth it because of the consequences that come along with it.
- Sands Casino Resort Sportsbook
- Address: 77 Sands Blvd Bethlehem, PA 18015
- Phone: 484-777-7777
The Sands Casino Resort sportsbook review – once the activity goes live in the area – will outline the benefits of wagering on athletics at a bona fide Sands property. Indeed, the Sands Bethlehem is among the best-performing casino locations in the entire stable of lauded Sands brands, outdoing even the most historic among them in annual revenue. As such, the sportsbook product that will be available at Sands in Bethlehem should be second to none, and the fact that it’s a Sands business should help to mitigate some of the inordinately high Pennsylvania fees and costs of operating a sportsbook in the state.
Of course, there will always be plenty to do at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem outside of wagering on your favorite teams, players, and leagues both nationally and internationally. The Sands – which expanded substantially in 2009 – features a 300-plus room hotel, 139,000 square feet of gaming space with over 3000 slot machines and dozens of table games, a poker room with weekly tournaments, and simulcast, pari-mutuel horse racing betting.
Given that the Sands is a full resort destination, there’s also plenty of fine dining at more than 10 on-site restaurants. Retail shopping is available too, including The Outlets at Sands Bethlehem, which is actually connected to the casino facility. Nightclubs also abound, and between the indoor and outdoor pools and the on-site spa, there’s plenty of relaxation on tap for when you’re away from all the gaming, partying and shopping.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, itself is a tourist-friendly destination, as it’s the historical center of one of America’s first major steel plant operations. (In fact, the Sands Casino is built atop the former foundation of the old Bethlehem Steel plant.) During the US Industrial Revolution, Bethlehem Steel was the second-largest steel producer in America (behind Pittsburgh’s US Steel), and it was also a very large shipyard. In this regard, the Sands Casino Resort is an intimate part of the history of the city and the region itself.
Naturally, then, Bethlehem has a number of historical destinations that are primarily steel-industry-related, including the National Museum of Industrial History, the Hoover Mason Trestle, and the SteelStacks arts and entertainment venue. Bethlehem also has nearly 600 acres of public parks with nature trails, bike riding, kayaking, and more. Every August, the city’s annual Musikfest – a 10-day music festival – pulls a crowd of over one million fans and spectators.
No matter what your game is, from wagering at Bethlehem sportsbooks to taking in the sights and sounds of the city to going shoulder-to-shoulder with music festival spectators, Bethlehem is a compelling vacation destination for gamblers, sports bettors, and fans of the arts alike.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board had its monthly meeting Wednesday and, as a result, three PA casinos received approval for sports betting license applications after a short presentation from each casino that demonstrated plans for the properties.
The SugarHouse Casino
SugarHouse Casino, one of two PA properties owned by Rush Street Gaming, is located in the Philadelphia area. According to the Rush Street representatives, the SugarHouse will have a temporary sportsbook while the permanent one is being finished. The permanent sportsbook will be in what was the casino’s Lucky Red bar. The new sports betting lounge will hopefully be ready during the first quarter of 2019.
In the meantime, the temporary facility will be small, at 1,800 square feet, and will have a large video wall and 12 high-def TV monitors. It will seat 70 people.
The casino, which is near the New Jersey state line, plans to launch their online sports betting at the same time as the iGaming offering. Online gaming was just made legal in PA in October this year.
Right now, the casino offers more than 1,600 slot games and around 50 table games in addition to a 28-table poker room.
The Rivers Casino
Rivers Casino is the second PA property owned by Rush Street Gaming and is located in the Pittsburgh area. The reps were there to present to the Board Rush Street’s plans for the casino. This plan was the most extensive out of the three casinos asking for a sports betting license.
At first, Rivers will have a 3,000 square-foot temporary sportsbook with a 15 high-definition televisions, a huge video wall, and seating for 98 people. Patrons will be allowed to place wagers through self-service kiosks and with live cashiers. The plan is to open the temporary sportsbook by December 1st.
The permanent sportsbook will be just over 3,000 square feet in the center of the casino, part of which is currently occupied by the Levels Lounge. The permanent facility will offer club, stadium, and VIP seating areas, making it a luxury sports betting experience for bettors. There will also be a spot at the bar with video poker stations. Plans are for the permanent location to be open and operational sometime in the spring of 2019.
The casino also plans to offer online sports betting. Reps said they hope to have an “online solution” at the beginning of next year. Rivers currently has more than 2,900 slot games, approximately 100 table games, and a 30-table poker room.
The Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino
Harrah’s was the first casino to present its plans to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Owned by Caesar’s, this property plans to open up a sportsbook that will have six teller windows, some self-service kiosks, and 40 TVs for customers to watch. Because this casino also has a horse racing operation, there will be two kiosks inside the sportsbook where visitors will be able to place racing bets.
Pa Casino Online Sports Betting
Of course, Harrah’s has a strong online brand and is owned by Caesars Entertainment. The casino’s harness racing season runs from April through December four days a week. The facility currently has 2,900 slots, a number of video poker games, a 24-hour poker room, and a bigger selection of table games compared to most other casinos in Pennsylvania.