West Virginia is one of the most recent states in the US to legalize online gambling. Since legalization, a number of online sports betting apps and other online gambling apps have arrived on the scene. Here’s an overview of WV mobile sportsbooks now available in the state.
There are only three legal online sports betting apps currently available in West Virginia. Fortunately, all of them are operated by well-established companies that are among the best on the US market.
WV sports betting apps Technically, there has been online sports betting in West Virginia since 2018. However, the only current sportsbooks still active in the state are FanDuel Sportsbook WV, DraftKings Sportsbook WV, and BetMGM Sportsbook WV. Both FanDuel and DraftKings have been accepting wagers in the state since August 2019. West Virginia Betting Sports betting is legal and operational in West Virginia. Bettors located within state lines can bet online through licensed mobile betting apps or visit retail sportsbooks at casinos and racetracks to place wagers in-person.
WV Online Sports Betting West Virginia was one of the earliest states into sports betting. In August 2018, it became the fifth state to legalize sports gambling and the third to approve online betting. FanDuel quickly took advantage of this opportunity by launching a WV online sportsbook in August 2019. Oct 05, 2020 Since the launch of sports betting in West Virginia, Hollywood Casino reigned supreme. When the WV casino launched its popular mobile betting app, DraftKings Sportsbook, it seemed it would hold onto the top spot for the foreseeable future. Well, the future is here and Hollywood fell down a rung.
The DraftKings app is available in sizes of 254.8 MB for iOS devices and 85.6 MB for Android devices. This means it doesn’t take up too much space on your mobile phone’s hard drive.
DraftKings Sportsbook allows you to bet on virtually every professional sport, along with several collegiate level sports through its pools. It also provides eSports wagering opportunities, plus international sports and other betting activities like boxing or racing.
DraftKings’ mobile sportsbook app is phenomenal for several reasons. One of the best features is the early cash out option, which allows you to cash out early if you don’t think a wager is going to result in a win. You can also use it to capitalize on your gains without further risking your winnings.
The unique betting pools also offer special opportunities and promotions that you can check out daily. The more you use the app, the more you’ll benefit from these offers.
DraftKings updates its mobile sportsbook app all the time. For example, an update recently passed on May 21, 2020, which focused on improving the general performance of the app and getting rid of a few bugs. Even earlier, the app was updated for better login and betting features across the board.
This mobile sportsbook app is even easier to download, as it’s only 22.6 MB in size. It barely takes up any room at all!
FanDuel allows you to bet on the staple American professional sports, like basketball, football, and baseball. But you’ll also be able to bet on college-level football and basketball, plus international sports like cricket and soccer, especially when it comes to international leagues and games.
FanDuel has a lot to like, such as its betting slip functionality. You can use the betting slip on this app to make the same wager amount across multiple bets at the same time, providing superior ease-of-use. It also has a live betting interface on the mobile app to provide moment-by-moment information for those who enjoy being part of the action.
FanDuel also updates its app pretty frequently. Most of these updates (which come at least every couple months) get rid of a few bugs or make more general improvements to the app interface.
This app is available at 42.6 MB in size for iOS devices and 9.2 MB for Android devices.
BetMGM is the most recent sportsbook app available in West Virginia, but it’s already making a splash by allowing college-level football and basketball and most professional US sports. International sports like Canadian hockey and rugby are also offered, plus additional activities like boxing and Formula One racing.
The coolest thing about the BetMGM app is the “Edit My Bet” feature. You’ll be able to change your wager even while the bet is still in play, utilizing a similar cash-out function as is provided by DraftKings. You can even increase your wager, too.
The most recent updates for this app have significantly improved the user interface and boosted load times, which is always nice to see.
You’ll be able to use virtually any iOS or Android mobile device you like with the sports betting apps available in West Virginia. That’s because each of these apps is made and maintained by big operators that want to benefit the largest amount of people they can. iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, and many other devices can all certainly be used with these mobile sportsbooks.
Even better, both of the available sportsbook apps have desktop variants that allow you to enjoy the same sports betting features (and in some cases, even more features) from a regular computer. You’ll be able to enjoy the same sports betting experience on your mobile phone at work as you can at home on your laptop or desktop.
All three app operators strive to make the apps’ mobile and desktop experiences relatively interchangeable. This makes it easy for you to switch between the apps and use them to their fullest extent even if you’ve only tried one or the other.
This being said, most of the mobile devices sacrifice a little bit of functionality for the smaller screen size they are forced to work with. As an example, the FanDuel app has a clean interface whether you use the desktop or mobile version of the service.
But the desktop version provides additional live scoring visualizations to give you information on the moment to moment action of a given game. These show up as arrows or professionally drawn charts to help you make informed wagers at the right moment. The mobile version of the app simply can’t have this feature because of the space premium.
Still, mobile apps can be quite valuable, and nothing demonstrates this more than the DraftKings app. As an example, it has mobile app-exclusive features that you can’t access using the desktop version. A “Pools” tab is at the top of the screen on the mobile app. You’ll be able to buy-in to special betting pools with set limits and larger than average potential winnings. In this way, DraftKings can incentivize its sports betting players to use the mobile app instead of the desktop version.
Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference for most things beyond the special pools tab. Mobile apps allow you to:
Desktop versions of the apps are better for:
Still, most mobile sports betting apps these days are pretty well made in terms of performance. None of the three apps lag excessively or worsen your sports betting experience. We’d recommend trying out both types of interfaces since signing up for one of them gets you access to the other automatically!
You can download either of these mobile sportsbook apps to your iPhone in a few easy steps:
If you have an Android device, there are a couple of extra hoops you have to jump through. The Google Play Store doesn’t allow any gambling apps due to a ban by Google, Android’s parent company. So you’ll have to go to the sportsbook operator’s website directly in order to download its sports betting app for Android.
Registering for a mobile sportsbook in West Virginia is fairly simple and the process doesn’t differ much between apps. Take FanDuel for example:
There are only slight differences in this basic process across different sportsbook apps. For example, another sportsbook may not require your SSN until you deposit money or try to make a withdrawal.
All of the legal online sports betting apps in West Virginia offer sign-up incentives to draw in new players. These bonuses can be great, although you should make a habit of reading the fine print.
A deposit match bonus means that a sportsbook app will “match” the amount you deposit into your account up to a certain limit. For example, DraftKings provides a $500 deposit match, so if you deposit $500 in your account, you’ll get an additional $500 in site credit for a total of $1,000 in wagering money.
Most deposit match bonuses hover around $200-$500 with plenty of variation in between.
In the DraftKings example, you aren’t allowed to withdraw site credit as cash – you have to use it for wagering. You’ll also be required to play through the bonus money a few times before you can withdraw any of your profits.
No deposit free bets are just free bets you get without making a deposit. You can sign up for one of these sports betting apps and immediately get some site credit to start wagering without risking any of your own money. They’re a great bonus if you just want to try out an app and aren’t fully committed yet.
Most of these bonuses are between $10 and $30, as they’re not intended to jumpstart your wagering career alone.
Most no deposit bets have expiration dates. DraftKings provides a $25 no deposit bonus, but you have to use that bonus within a couple of months.
Lastly, risk-free bets are bonuses in the form of a certain amount of site credit (usually on the order of a few hundred dollars). You get this bonus site credit if you lose your first wager. FanDuel, for example, provides a $500 “refund” if you lose your first bet, so it’s a great way to keep your bets going if your initial deposit didn’t get you anywhere.
Most of these bonuses are between $200 and $500 in total. However, some apps, like FanDuel, provide the refund through multiple smaller-value bets (like $50-value bets).
Again, you aren’t allowed to withdraw any of the site credit in cash. Additionally, keep in mind that most apps that provide these bonuses do so in a similar format as the above example (spreading out the refund credit across multiple bets instead of giving you the total pool in a lump sum).
Moneyline bets are available at all the West Virginia sportsbook apps. With these wagers, you bet on which team will win a match.
Proposition (prop) bets require you to bet on events that take place within a game but don’t necessarily change the outcome. For instance, DraftKings lets you bet on whether someone will hit a home run for its baseball games.
Parlay bets collect several wagers in a string or row, and you have to win multiple wagers sequentially in order to win the whole pool. For instance, you’ll bet on who wins a series of games in a season. All the West Virginia sportsbook apps provide parlay bets.
FanDuel provides a plethora of unique bets, especially if you choose a popular sport like NFL football. As an example, you’ll be able to bet on who scores the first touchdown or various winning margins.
But BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel offer additional bet types, like futures bets where you wager on future events or various predictions. You’ll be able to bet on point spreads as well (wagering on a set number of points won or lost over a game or season). As mentioned, DraftKings also offers a few unique bets on its “Pools” tab for enhanced potential winnings with special odds.
Not for real money. However, West Virginia does legally allow online casinos, so some online casino apps could pop up by the end of 2020. Some of them may come is as added features to online sportsbooks apps.
Online poker is also legal, but there aren’t any legitimate providers. However, Global Poker is always an option if you enjoy sweepstakes online poker.
The West Virginia Lottery Commission is responsible for regulating sports betting apps in West Virginia.
Yes. Other accepted deposit methods include debit cards, PayPal, electronic checks, and more.
You need to be 21-years-old or older to play on West Virginia online sportsbooks.
You can find daily fantasy sports opportunities through the same apps that provide sports betting. DraftKings and FanDuel are particularly well known for this.
No. Legal online gambling apps are not available on the Google Play Store.
There are currently three sports betting apps: DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.