West Virginia Sports Betting Guide

West Virginia Sports Betting Info And The Best WV Sportsbooks

West Virginia is rapidly becoming a significant state in the US betting landscape. It might be surprising to some, but the Mountain State has been at the forefront of sports wagering, and on this page, you will find all the necessary information when it comes to placing legal wagers in West Virginia. 

The Best WV Sportsbooks & Free Bets 

West Virginia Sports Betting Overview

The first thing to say is that sports betting is legal and live in the West Virginia state. The first sportsbook was opened at Hollywood Casino Charles Town in August 2018, and two of the four others casinos in existence in the state also offer sports betting. There are also six online sports betting apps live and operating in West Virginia, and these are:

• DraftKings Sportsbook
• BetMGM Sportsbook
• Caesars Sportsbook
• FanDuel Sportsbook
• PointsBet Sportsbook
• Betly Sportsbook

Accessing these apps is very simple as both Apple and Android customers can download the apps easily. Once the app is on your phone, you can register and place wagers. West Virginia’s law allows wagering on a wide range of sports and has fewer restrictions than other legal states. Unlike New Jersey, for instance, the Mountain State allow wagering on collegiate activities in the state and instate university contests. 

What are the best WV sports betting apps?

DraftKings Sportsbook WV

DraftKings Sportsbook launched its West Virginia site and app on August 28. Players can access the operator via a browser on their computer or with iOS and Android devices. The company secured a license to operate in the Mountain State in September 2018 but struggled to find a land-based partner. Eventually, the operator managed to strike a deal with Hollywood Casino Charles Town but had to completely rewrite the app due to increased regulatory requirements from the West Virginia Lottery. Nevertheless, DraftKings has become one of the most popular operators in the state, mainly thanks to its innovative features. For example, the cash-out option allows players to cash out their open wager before the end of the match. Their live betting section on the app is also appreciated and has great features. 

BetMGM Sportsbook WV

MGM Resorts has delivered their new and improved app, BetMGM Sportsbook, to West Virginia, with the launch that started in January 2020. MGM is a giant in the US casino industry and has invested heavily to expand that domination into sports betting across the country. The company has upgraded its sports betting technology and made a joint venture with GVC. Although MGM doesn’t have a casino in WV, they are allowed to run an online-only sportsbook. BetMGM has a great wagering offering across all the most important sports and a solid live betting section. Particularly appreciated by bettors is the ‘Edit My Bet’ functionality, which is a variation of the cash out we have discussed before. 

FanDuel Sportsbook WV

FanDuel Sportsbook was the first online sportsbook launched after BetLucky closure and opened its virtual doors on August 26. However, FanDuel was already present in the state earlier than that, as they have been operating a sportsbook at The Casino Club at The Greenbrier since September 2018. Not surprisingly, The Greenbrier has acted as FanDuel’s land-based partner for acquiring the sports betting license. The app is a version of the one that has been very successful in other states. The live betting section is particularly appealing, with plenty of wagering options on every single game. FanDuel also offers a loyalty program to bettors, which is not something that is widely seen across the different operators. Bettors can collect points that can be redeemed for free bets and other prizes. 

Sports Betting Apps in West Virginia

Mobile sportsbook apps allow players to easily access a wide range of betting options from their mobile devices. But how to download these apps from Google and Apple’s stores? 

Android betting apps

Phones from Samsung, Google, and Sony use Android software to power their platform. The issue here is that Google hasn’t allowed gambling apps in the Google Play store, so Android users need to seek out the app on their own and download it separately. 

iPhone / iPad betting apps

Things are pretty simple with Apple iOS, as users can simply download the related app from the Apple store. 

Wagering restrictions in West Virginia

Similarly to other legal states, all online sports betting activities have to happen when the bettor is physically located inside the state lines of West Virginia. Sportsbooks use geolocation technology to ensure they only legally accept wagers from bettors in the state. 

What are the Pros of mobile sportsbook apps?

• Flexibility: all you need is a mobile, and you can wager on sports everywhere you are in the state and at any time of day or night. 
• Choice: Finding the best lines is a lot easier as you simply need to switch the app to check the operator that provides the best return for your wager. 
• Speed: Since you are cutting out the time to travel to a land-based sportsbook retail store, you can take advantage of the best betting opportunities. 
• Expanded Betting Options: mobile apps are made with the most recent technology, so sportsbooks can offer a wide range of betting options that go well beyond the usual traditional betting types. As mentioned above, sportsbooks can offer live betting, cash-out functionality and lots more via their app. 

Cons of mobile sportsbook apps?

• Complexity: having so many options is great but can also be confusing. Some bettors just want to wager traditionally and find most options unnecessary. 
• Trust: Even if sites are legal, secure and highly regulated, some people are nervous about using a mobile phone to make transactions. 
• Social: Watching the game in the company of fellow bettors delivers a social experience that is just not the same through a mobile phone. 

West Virginia Sports Betting Explained

Sports betting is clearly the process of making a wager on sports. However, it is more complicated than just predicting which team will win a particular contest. There are many different types of sports bets that can be placed, and to grasp the best opportunities, it makes sense to know what the options are. Below we have summarized the most popular wager types in WV: 

Point spreads

This is one of the most common wager types in all sports betting. A wager on the point spread is a bet against a set margin of victory. The sportsbook will establish what they expect to be the most likely result between the two teams. In doing so, they predict how many more points the winning team will score. This estimate is called point spread, or also the spread or the line. At this point, bettors can make predictions based on that estimate. They can bet that one of the following two things will happen: 

• They back the favourite as they believe they will win by more points than the sportsbook’s prediction. A team that does so correctly is said to have ‘beaten’ the spread. 
• They back the underdog as they believe they will lose by fewer points than the estimated. A team that successfully loses by less than the spread is said to have ‘covered’ the spread. Clearly, a bet on an underdog that manages to win the game outright is also a winning wager. 

Moneylines

Moneylines is another trendy wager type, and it is one of the simplest ones to understand, even by someone that has never placed a bet on his whole life. A moneyline wager is simply a bet on a team that the player believes will win outright, regardless of the margin. The odds will indicate if you are backing the favourite or the underdog. If the odds have a positive sign in front, the team is the underdog. Therefore, the number listed is the amount that the sportsbook will pay for a winning $100 wager. On the other hand, if the number is negative, it means you are backing the favourite, and the number listed is the amount of the bet the book will need to return a payout of $100. 

It is simple to convert moneylines into straight odds as a +100 is equivalent to 1:1. Remember, positive moneylines are odds the bettor receives, while negative moneylines are odds the bettor lays. 

Totals

It might be very difficult to predict which team will prevail in some games. A different type of bet can be helpful in these cases, as you might want to predict instead how many points the two teams will score in total. This can be done with totals bet. A totals wager is a bet on how many points the two teams will score in a given match. Similarly to spread betting, the sportsbook will establish an estimate for the combined point total. This estimate is known as over/under. Bettors will have to predict if the actual total score will be over or higher than the sportsbook’s estimate. As you will be able to see, the sportsbook’s line will have, almost always, a half-point added to it. This is, so the bets are either winning or losing, and there is no possibility of a tie. 

Futures

Futures bets are becoming more and more common. As you can see from the name, this kind of wagers involves betting on events that will produce an outcome in the medium to long future. Usually, these bets involve some end-of-season prediction, like who is winning the Super Bowl or the World Series. They are generally expressed as straight odds bets, but can also show up as moneylines from time to time. Since these are quite uncertain outcomes, future bets’ payouts are usually high.  

Propositions

Proposition bets, also called props bets, are a type of wager that involves a bet on an event that is not immediately determined by the game’s final outcome. This is because proposition bets will focus on a partial game achievements or events that are tangential to the match itself. So, for instance, a props bet could concentrate on the performance of a team or an individual player. Likewise, a bet on the outcome of an opening coin-toss will also be a prop bet, as it will be predicting how many points a team will score in the first quarter of a game. 

Parlays

Parlays bets are combination wagers involving several different bets on the same wager. Each selection of a Parlays bet is called a leg, and bettors have the flexibility to add as many selections they like. The challenge, however, is that every leg must prove correct for the parlay to be successful. This is why it is significantly more challenging to win a parlay bet than individual wagers. They are so popular, though, because parlays bets can return a very high payout even with relatively small stakes, as the odds of each leg are multiplied with each other. 

Teasers/Pleasers

For different reasons, teasers or pleasers are parlays that might be more attractive for bettors. In a teaser, the bettors can adjust the odds in their favour. This has the outcome of increasing the chance of winning the parlay, as the teaser usually moves the spread or moneyline of each leg. However, on the flip side, the payout potential will be reduced on teasers. 

In a pleaser, it is the sportsbook that will adjust the odds in its favor. It will become more difficult for a player to win the bet in this scenario, but the potential payout will also be higher than a regular parlay. This type of bet is particularly appreciated by these bettors that are willing to accept more risk than a standard parlay. 

Round robins

Round robins are an exponential version of parlays. As we have seen, parlay is a combination of different bets, while a round robin is a combination of parlays. So a round robin, might involve three or four separate parlays combined into the same wager. The main difference with parlays bets, is that a round robin wager is not automatically a loser if one of the parlays loses. Round robins are similar to box bets found at horseracing tracks, so even if one parlay fails, the bettor might still get paid if the others are successful. 

Live betting opportunities in West Virginia

Live betting, also called in-game betting, is becoming more popular in the Mountain State, not surprising. This type of wagering feature allows bettors to wager on games already in progress. Proposition bets are frequently used in in-game betting, with updated odds consistently. This exciting way of wagering has been made possible thanks to the technological advantages that online sportsbooks can bring to the table. The overall experience for the customer is much more entertaining, as they have the flexibility to wager while they are watching the actions unfolding. Additionally, live betting offers the opportunity to double down or try to recoup losses from a pregame wager. Therefore, it is not surprising that it is such a popular way of wagering for West Virginians. 

How to deposit and make withdrawals from West Virginia’s sportsbook

Sportsbooks have worked hard to allow players to be able to move their money onto and off their sites without too many problems. After all, money is the lifeblood of any sports betting operation, so there are several deposits and withdrawal methods offered by West Virginia sportsbooks, with the most common being:  

• Credit or debit cards (Visa and Mastercard)
• E-check or ACH transfers
• Bank transfers
• Electronic wallets (PayPal, Neteller, Skrill)
• Prepaid cards (Play+ and DraftKings)
• PayNearMe (Cash option redeemable via 7-Eleven)
• Bank wire/money order
• Cash (Transactions at online sportsbook’s retail partner’s cage)
• Check (Mostly used for withdrawals. Some sportsbooks could accept personal checks as deposits.)

How to open an account with a WV Sportsbook?

Signing up with a West Virginia’s online sportsbooks is pretty straightforward. The first thing to do is to start the registration process. Here you will need to supply the following information: 

• Name
• Address
• Phone number
• Email address
• Social Security number

You might also need to verify that you are not a robot or some auto-registration program during the registration process. Additionally, the player would have to confirm having read all the legal policies to proceed. Legal sites in the Mountain State won’t ask to supply bank information at this point in the process, so stick to authorized brands to avoid any problems.  

History of legal sports betting in West Virginia

West Virginia has been in the vanguard of sports betting legalization since the very start. In 2016, West Virginia made its position on federal sports betting clear, and State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed multiple amicus curiae briefs to support New Jersey’s suit against the government. Then, in February 2018, just three months before the Supreme Court decision, West Virginia legislators passed a comprehensive sports bill. Gov. Jim Justice allowed the bill to become law without his signature so that the Mountain State was ready if a win occurred in Washington, DC, to move forward immediately on the matter. As soon as the Supreme Court ruled in favour of New Jersey in May 2018, West Virginia instantly delivered multiple license approvals for five instate casinos. As a result, Hollywood Casino Charles Town accepted the first legal sports bet on August 30. BetLucky became the first legal online sportsbook in the state and started to take bets via a mobile app in December 2018, but things didn’t go smooth here. Due to a dispute between Delaware North and Miomni, who powered its sports betting operations, the company shut down all its sportsbooks, including BetLucky. 

It was a lesson learned for West Virginia regulators, who modified the rules and increased oversight before any new online sportsbook was allowed to launch. The likes of DraftKings and FanDuel satisfied their concerns and were allowed to launch in August 2018. Legal sports betting in West Virginia are available as follow: 

Mobile:

• DraftKings Sportsbook WV
• FanDuel Sportsbook WV

Land-based:

• Hollywood Casino Charles Town
• FanDuel Sportsbook at The Casino Club at The Greenbrier
• The Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort

Most popular sports to wager on in WV

Not surprisingly, football is the most popular sport to wager in the US and, West Virginia is not an exception in this regard. Since West Virginia is not home to any major sports franchises, bettors have been looking elsewhere to find teams to wager on. The majority of WV punters are supporting the Pittsburgh Steelers. After all, Pennsylvania city is one of the biggest cities closest to the Mountain State, and the team in black and yellow is one of the most important NFL franchises. Other loved teams here are the likes of Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles. Things get more blurred when we look at other professional sports, with West Virginians supporting in similar numbers the likes of Cleveland Cavaliers, the Washington Wizards and the Philadelphia 76ers. In baseball, we mostly have a duality, as people living in West Virginia they either support the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Cincinnati Reds. At the same time, there is little interest in the likes of Washington Nationals or Baltimore Orioles. When it comes to collegiate sports, the Mountaineers of West Virginia University are supported in the state. 

Is horse racing betting legal in West Virginia?

Betting on horse racing is legal and popular across the state. Four of the five instate casinos have live racing events at their in-house racetracks. A reason for the success of betting on horse racing is that it is a simple activity to understand. Bettors need to predict which horse or horses will end in the top three: these three places are called win, place and show. The most serious horse racing bettors also consider historical performances and the conditions at the track. But for most people, that kind of study is too much work, as the wagers on horse races are generally low, even at $2, so the majority just want to have some fun without taking it too seriously. 

West Virginia horse racing locations

• Hollywood Casino Charles Town, Charles Town
• Mardi Gras Casin, Cross Lanes
• Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack, Wheeling
• The Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort, New Cumberland

What are retail sportsbooks in WV

There are a total of five casinos licensed to provide retail sports betting in West Virginia, but two of these are not accepting sports wagers at the moment. In addition, due to ongoing technical difficulties, Mardi Gras and Wheeling Island are not currently operating. These two casinos are both owned by Delaware North and are yet to confirm when they are planning sports betting to be active again in their properties. So for the moment, there are three active retail sportsbooks in West Virginia, and these are: 

The Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino Charles Town

Address: 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, WV 25414

This is the largest casino in West Virginia, and it is also the closest to Washington, DC, and Baltimore. Hollywood’s sportsbook was also the first to accept a bet in WV state’s history back in late August 2018. It is by far the most successful operation in the state, as it accounts for just under 75% of all sports betting revenue in West Virginia. It is also the land-based partner of one of the two online sportsbook apps operating in the state, DraftKings Sportsbook WV. 

FanDuel Sportsbook at The Casino Club at The Greenbrier Resort

Address: 101 W Main Street, White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986

FanDuel Sportsbook at The Casino Club at The Greenbrier Resort is the only private legal sportsbook in the country. Together with the casino, it is only available to club members, property owners and hotel guests of The Greenbrier Resort. As you would imagine, the sportsbook and even the casinos exist more as luxury services than moneymaking businesses. Players can bet on sports as normal, but in the casino, the dress code is something unusual in other venues across the country. FanDuel Sportsbook also has a mobile app. It is one of the two legal sports betting apps in the Mountain State. 

Caesars Sportsbook at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort

Address: 1420 Mountaineer Circle, New Cumberland, WV 26047

The Mountaineer Casino is located on the tip of West Virginia’s Northern Peninsula and sits on the bank of the Ohio River. It has a partnership with sports betting giant Caesars Sportsbook, which should launch online sports betting app very soon.

West Virginia Sports Betting Faq

Is sports betting legal in West Virginia?

Yes. Hollywood Casino Charles Town became the first location to receive wagers in the state on Aug. 30, 2018, and the other four casinos in the state followed course in the same year. Bettors can also place wagers online.

Where can I bet on sports in WV?

There are six active online sportsbooks in West Virginia. They are:

• DraftKings Sportsbook WV
• Caesars Sportsbook WV
• BetMGM Sportsbook WV
• FanDuel Sportsbook WV
• PointsBet Sportsbook WV
• Betly Sportsbook WV

In addition to mobile betting options, here are the five locations for sports betting in West Virginia:

• Hollywood Casino at Charles Town
• The Casino Club at the Greenbrier
• Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort
• Mardi Gras Casino and Resort Cross Lanes
• Wheeling Island Hotel

How old do I have to be to bet in West Virginia?

Bettors in West Virginia must be at least 21 years old to gamble in the state. 

Which West Virginia teams can I wager on?

Despite there aren’t professional sports teams in the state, West Virginia’s fans are spread on neighbouring teams. West Virginia does allow residents to place bets on collegiate athletics at the in-state schools, with the likes of West Virginia University and Marshall that are particularly popular. 

Are West Virginia sports betting sites safe?

Yes, all sports betting sites in West Virginia are strictly regulated and supervised by the West Virginia Lottery. Lottery officials provide oversight and are available for any queries in this regard. 

Are offshore betting sites legal?

No, offshore betting sites are completely illegal. Thanks to a grey zone not addressed by the law, some can exist, but none have full recognition. Even if some are pretty safe since they are outside of the US, players will not have any legal rights over them, so they cannot be trusted entirely. 

Are DraftKings and FanDuel legal in WV?

Yes, both DraftKings and FanDuel are legal and operate in the Mountain State. In addition, more legal sports betting sites should appear soon. 

Is cash-out betting allowed in West Virginia?

Yes, DraftKings Sportsbook has the cash out functionality, thanks to which bettors can cash out their open bet slips accepting a reduced payout. All you need to do is press the bottom at the bottom of the slip to trigger this.

Can I use my PayPal account to bet online?

Most sportsbooks will allow PayPal deposits and withdrawals, but others won’t. So make sure to check your chosen sportsbook to find out more information.