West Virginia sports betting has been legal for quite some time, but what about online casinos and sweepstakes casinos? Fret not, you don’t have to worry about legal restrictions on this side of the country.
The Mountain State is one of the key places where you can enjoy multiple avenues of online gaming without much hassle. In this guide, I will discuss the various options at your disposal while also giving you an outline for other types of gaming including online casinos, poker, and sweepstakes casinos - enjoy!
Before we jump directly into sportsbooks and the West Virginia no deposit bonuses for them, I want to give you an overview of gaming legality in the state. Horse racing, greyhound racing, video poker, and lotteries are all legal to some degree, and you can see info about the big three categories below:
Sportsbooks were legalized in West Virginia in 2018. Initially, the state tried to pass a bill in 2017, but it failed to get through the house. A second attempt was made the next year with Bill H 2751 and this was passed. This would legalize online sports betting, with the West Virginia Lottery Commission being responsible for overseeing sportsbooks and issuing licenses. Since then, and as you will see below, a range of online sportsbooks has popped up, offering real money betting on virtually every sport you can think of.
Online casinos followed then next year in the Mountain State. House Bill 2934 was passed and this legalized playing at both online casinos and online poker sites. This meant that WV was the fourth state to legalize online casinos in the US. Many of the existing online sportsbook brands developed sister casino sites, effectively giving customers a one-stop shop for both sports betting and casino gameplay.
You will not find many of the latest sweepstakes casinos launches in West Virginia. Social casinos are legal here, but not many sites operate here. I’ve played at sweepstakes casinos in the state, but some of the top names are absent and I think it’s because of the popularity of online casinos and sportsbooks, that the competition is stiff.
As mentioned, online casinos are also legal in West Virginia. This makes it one of only 6 states to facilitate online casino gaming including Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Over the years, I’ve found an excellent array of online casinos in the state, and one of the great things I’ve noticed is that most of the popular sportsbooks also have a casino section.
For instance, the five West Virginia sports betting sites I’ll recommend later – BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, and Fanatics, all have an online casino that WV residents can play at. They all also have a range of WV online casino bonuses that you can take advantage of. So, if you want some casino gaming, I recommend looking at my below mini reviews and picking one of my five recommended options.
West Virginia sports betting is thriving and this is evident due to the fantastic range of online sportsbooks from top providers you have. To give you a starting point, I’ve used my knowledge and experiences in the state to recommend five sportsbooks you can try today:
I’ve been a BetMGM customer for ages now and they still have the fantastic welcome offer where you can get up to $1,500 back in bonus bets if your initial bet loses. For sports betting, this site has some of the best NBA action I’ve found. They cover all the regular season games, but you can also bet on the Summer League and preseason action. You’ll often find a solid range of special bets and parlays too that the BetMGM staff or other customers have picked – I love browsing through these to see if there’s any hidden gems.
Like the promo codes for social betting sites, when you sign up to FanDuel and bet a minimum of $5, you get a whopping $150 in bonus bets! I think this is one of the best welcome bonuses for WV sportsbooks and the terms and conditions are easy to understand. I love the site design and ease of use of the FanDuel website – if you’re a beginner I think you’ll have no issue finding the sports and betting options. They have awesome support for all the US major leagues, but you can also bet on lesser-known sports like Lacrosse, volleyball, and cycling.
NFL fans will love Caesars Sportsbook as it’s an official NFL partner and has a massive range of specials and bonuses relating to the sport. They also have a special welcome bonus where if you bet $1, you can potentially double your winnings for your next 10 bets up to a maximum $25 profit boost per bet! Aside from the NFL, Caesars has a robust sportsbook setup with markets for all the popular sports you could want including tennis, golf, European soccer, MMA, and motorsport.
DraftKings has a fantastic welcome offer similar to the FanDuel one. You need to sign up to the site, deposit $5, and make a qualifying $5 bet with it. If you do that, you’ll get $150 in bonus bets whether your initial bet wins or loses! You’ll also find special promos for different sports, for instance, at the time of writing this West Virginia sports betting article, they had an MLB no sweat bet offer where you would get your initial stake back in bonus bets if you lost on select MLB bets! The site and mobile app work brilliantly, and you also have the benefits of the DK Shop, DK Dollars, and the associated Dynasty Rewards program they offer.
Fanatics is a mobile-only online sportsbook and casino for Mountain State residents. I think this is one of the best mobile apps available and I’ve always been a big fan of the style and colors. New customers can get up to $1,000 in no-sweat bets which is typically spread as a $100 risk-free bet for the first 10 days after you’ve created your account. Fanatics specializes in the US pro leagues such as the NBA and NFL, and their betting selection for the individual games is superb.
Now that we’ve looked at the best betting sites online for West Virginia residents, I think it’s important to understand how the legalization of various online gaming activities in the state has progressed over time. Below, you can see a simple timeline that outlines the major events in the history of WV gambling, both offline and online:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1931 | Horse and greyhound racing is allowed in the state. |
| 1984 | The West Virginia State Lottery is founded. |
| 1994 | Video lotteries were legalized in the state and available at several racetracks. |
| 2001 | Video poker is legalized via the Limited Video Lottery Act. |
| 2009 | Table gaming is legalized in WV via a second vote on a senate bill. |
| 2018 | Bill H 2751 legalizes online sportsbooks in the state. |
| 2019 | House Bill 2934 legalizes online casinos and poker sites in West Virginia. |
As you can see, facilities for gambling have been around for decades now, with horse racing and greyhound racing being the first step back in the 1930s. After that, there has been a slow but consistent trickle of laws and bills that have opened up avenues for other forms of gaming. This is a similar approach that I’ve seen in other states like New Jersey – lotteries and video poker is usually first, and this eventually leads to sports betting, with online casino betting typically being the last barrier.
In the grand scheme of things, WV was the fourth state to legalize online sports betting and casinos, and it remains progressive and forward-thinking compared to most of the country.
All the barriers for online gambling in the Mountain State have effectively been broken already. It’s one of the few states where you can pretty much legally engage in whatever type of online gaming activity you want. Sports betting is legal, you can play at top West Virginia online casinos, and there’s plenty of video poker and poker to enjoy.
The only area where I see room for progression is sweepstakes casinos. While you can play at some of the top sweepstakes casinos, most of them remain inaccessible in West Virginia and I’m not entirely sure why. Sweepstakes casinos are legal here, but I’d estimate that less than 10% of US operators choose to market their product in WV and make it available.
I assume that it relates to the legalization of real money online casinos – the operators may think that competition and marketing will be hard due to the prevalence of sites like DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM. Nonetheless, I hope it’s an area that is developed in the state as I think sweepstakes casinos serve as an excellent alternative to their real money counterparts and in time, I’d like to see more operators market their social casinos in WV.
That’s it – your guide to West Virginia sportsbooks and other forms of online gaming is complete. As a recap, remember that real money online casinos and sportsbooks are legal here, and there is also a small amount of sweepstakes casinos too. For sportsbooks, Mountain State residents are spoiled for choice – I believe you have some of the best sportsbooks and social sportsbooks available in the US so why not give one of them a try today?
BetMGM is a brilliant choice for NBA fans with its extensive preseason coverage, while DraftKings and FanDuel both have superb welcome bonuses and a wide selection of global sports. Caesars Sportsbook is my pick when it comes to NFL betting as it’s an official partner, while Fanatics is the pick if you prefer dedicated mobile sports betting in West Virginia. All you need to do is click one of the links or banners we’ve got here, sign up, and start betting!
You can. To have a chance of doing that, you need to register an account with a licensed WV sportsbook like BetMGM. With your account created, you then make your first deposit and place a real money bet. If your bet selection wins, your payout is equal to your initial stake, multiplied by the bet odds – easy!
Yes. When it comes to forms of online gaming, West Virginia is incredibly progressive. Currently, online casinos are legal here, as are online sportsbooks. There is also a selection of sweepstakes casinos, although these are not as readily available as online casinos and sportsbooks.
My recommendations are DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics, and Caesars. These are all immensely popular sportsbook brands in the US and will allow you to engage in West Virginia sports betting on markets including the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, NHL, European soccer, golf, and tennis.
If you want to place any bets then you have to register an account. This is usually a simple process that involves providing some personal details like your name and address, and verifying your email. With your account created, you can login and make your first USD deposit to then go on and place your first real money bet.
There are some sweepstakes casinos available in West Virginia, but they are not as widely available as in other states. Real money online casinos and sportsbooks typically have wider availability in the state compared to social casinos.
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