With several types of online gambling available in Pennsylvania, picking a site can seem overwhelming. If you’re feeling unsure about where to go, you’ve come to the right place.

• Best Ac Online Casino No Deposit
• Best Casinos In Ac Nj
• Ac Casinos News

Below, you will find reviews for the best online casino and online sportsbook in Pennsylvania. We have carefully studied each site to determine what the strong suits are and, conversely, what things they need to improve.

We also discuss some of the challenges Pennsylvania’s online gambling market is facing.

With things changing almost daily, it can be challenging to keep up with online gambling news in the Keystone State. Hopefully, by reading through our information below, you can determine which sites best fit your online betting needs. Most importantly, you must be comfortable with the site and aren’t worried about anything beyond winning.

Best PA online gambling sites for 2020

While the banking options for US players is restricted thanks to the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006, there are still ways for users to move money to and from an online casino. Different methods vary by the casino you’re playing at, but generally include Visa, Mastercard, bank wire, and an assortment of eWallets.

Our best casino bonuses and offers

Online casinos offer bonuses to their patrons to promote loyalty for the site. This practice is especially true for new players; every online casino has an offer for those who register for the site.

Several online casinos are active in Pennsylvania. Here’s a rundown of what bonuses are available on the best sites right now:

Unibet Casino

Unibet online casino in PA is one of the top options in the state, with $10 free just for signing up and a 100% match of your deposit up to $500.

For the free money, use promo code UBCASINO10. For the deposit bonus, use promo code UBCASINO500.

The trusted brand from Europe is hoping to make a big splash in PA with the biggest library of games in the state.

Read ourUnibet PA online casino review

SugarHouse Casino

SugarHouse Casino offers new players a 100% deposit match on their first deposit. In other words, the site will match the player’s initial deposit dollar-for-dollar.

This bonus is good for up to $250. Best of all, PlaySugarHouse only requires a 1x playthrough on its bonus, so the money is quite easy to release. SugarHouse is the best PA casino when it comes to bonus offers.

All a new player needs to do is use promo code 250MATCH when he or she makes a deposit. This deposit bonus is likely the best available in Pennsylvania right now.

Read our Sugarhouse PA Casino review

Hollywood Casino

At first glance, Hollywood online casino’s bonus seems rather meager in comparison to the other two casinos. After all, $25 is not much compared to hundreds of dollars. However, this $25 does not require a deposit. It’s absolutely free.

All new players must do is register on the site. There’s no need to enter any promo code or other activity. As a result, the registrant will find $25 waiting for them.

Best of all, there’s only a 1x playthrough requirement. So, wager through the $25 once, and it’s ready for withdrawals.

Read our Hollywood Casino review

PA online casinos partnership tracker

The table below shows the Pennsylvania casinos that have applied for licenses. You can see their expected technology partners, and whether they have an additional online sports betting license.

Best sportsbook bonuses and offers

Here’s a look at our welcome bonuses offers:

SugarHouse Sportsbook

SugarHouse Sportsbook was the first online sportsbook to open its doors in Pennsylvania. So, fittingly, the book has a great dollar-for-dollar welcome bonus.

New players at SugarHouse will receive a 100% match on their first deposit. All they have to do is enter promo code 250MATCH when entering their banking details.

Best of all, this match is good for deposits of up to $250. There’s only a 1x playthrough requirement, so it’s quite simple to release. Few bonuses are as good as this one in Pennsylvania right now.

Read our Sugarhouse Sportsbook review

BetRivers Sportsbook

Best Ac Online Casino No Deposit

BetRivers’ online sportsbook does have a bonus that rivals SugarHouse’s deposit match. In fact, it’s the same.

Thanks to its shared corporate ownership, BetRivers and SugarHouse are sister sites. So, the two books are going to function as mirrors in many cases, including bonus offers.

Naturally, that means that BetRivers players can also receive a 100% match on their first deposits. This match extends up to $250.

New players must use the promo code 250MATCH to activate the bonus when they make that first investment. The 1x playthrough requirement is about as minimal as those restrictions get, so it should be no problem to recover a significant portion of free money from BetRivers.

Read our BetRivers Sportsbook review

FanDuel Sportsbook

To casual fans, FanDuel might seem like a strange addition to the sports betting landscape. However, the daily fantasy sports giant has become quite a force in online sports betting in the past few years.

So, Pennsylvanians can get a taste of what all the fuss is. New accounts at FanDuel online sportsbook will receive a risk-free bet of up to $500.

New FanDuel players don’t need a promo code to activate this deal. They simply must join FanDuel here and make their first wager.

There is a 1x playthrough requirement on the bonus, which means players must make another bet of equal size to release the funds.

Essentially, players are receiving two bets for the price of one. Still, that’s a great deal for most, mainly if one of them happens to win.

As an added bonus, there is also a FanDuel Casino integrated within the PA FanDuel sports betting app.

Read our Fanduel PA Sportsbook review

Full list of sportsbooks and partnerships

Many of these online sports betting offerings will eventually be tied to a PA online casino site. For example, Harrah’s will likely roll everything into its single Caesars Online Casino product. PlaySugarHouse offers a shared account between casino and sports betting as well.

The lone exception is if you are an iPhone user. Changes to the Apple app store guidelines make these shared apps difficult, so you might see a sports betting app before you get a real-money online casino app in the lineup. And there is a chance they will remain separate.

What’s legal and illegal for online sports betting?

Few newly legalized activities come without rules and exceptions to their legality. Pennsylvania’s online sports betting is no different.

The good news is that Pennsylvania residents and visitors can wager on any professional, collegiate or international sporting events. The only requirements are:

• Be at least 21 years or older
• Be physically within Pennsylvania state lines
• Wager on an approved, regulated Pennsylvania site

However, the betting must occur on sporting events.

So, non-sports events, such as the Academy Awards or political elections, are not permitted for betting.

Finally, people who are intrinsically involved with a particular sport cannot wager upon it. So, players, officials, coaches, and other sports personnel cannot place bets on their own sports.

Concerning online casinos, most people can play without any restriction. Adults who are at least 21 years old are more than welcome to take part.

However, there is absolutely no online casino play allowed across state lines. The sites use geolocation software to monitor every player’s physical location. You must enable this function on your mobile device or you won’t be allowed to play.

The other exception is people who have placed themselves on the self-exclusion list. There is a separate self-exclusion list in Pennsylvania specifically for online play. Unfortunately, gambling addiction is a real problem, and online casinos are careful not to exacerbate the issue for people who are in recovery.

Best Casinos In Ac Nj

PA casino apps

With Pennsylvania moving into the online casino space, there are a few points about using these programs that bear mention.

First and foremost, it’s important to know that each casino app will figure out what device you’re using automatically. So, whether you use a laptop or a mobile device, the app will size the casino to fit your screen.

For the most part, every online casino has a browser version that will always work on desktops and some phones.

With that said, many casinos have a dedicated app specific to mobile use. If you are a mobile user, you may find the app to provide a smoother experience.

The mobile apps may also have greater functionality than the browser version. However, the game selection on the app can be smaller because some games don’t translate to mobile.

Finally, no matter which platform you use, you will have to go through some steps for the app to work.

Apple users should be aware all PA casinos or sportsbooks have a native iOS app.

Android users can play on all of the casinos in Pennsylvania but they will need to download the app from the casino website. The Google Play store does not support the distribution of gambling apps.

What online casino games are available in PA casinos?

Online casinos feature many of the same games that one might find in a land-based casino. Here are some of the types of games you may find at your favorite site.

Because of the laws requiring Pennsylvania-specific servers for any game providers to PA online casinos, the selection may not be what you are used to if you’ve ever played on a New Jersey online casino, for example.

Slots

The bread and butter for land-based casinos, slots, are the main focus for most online casinos too. An online slot is technically not a machine, but it functions identically otherwise.

A slot game will usually feature several rotating reels with various symbols drawn on them. The reels stop, and the player wins (or doesn’t) based upon the patterns the reels come to rest.

Many slots also feature bonus games or features that provide extra chances for players to win. Bonuses tend to be mini-games and have a higher chance of success than the slot game at large.

Each online casino in Pennsylvania offers a selection of games. That variety depends mostly on the deals each casino has with the game publishers.

So, the following is a list of the most popular slot developers and their games that are playable at the best PA online casinos:

NetEnt: At this time, all games on SugarHouse Casino are produced by NetEnt Games. NetEnt became an industry leader in the world of online slots by providing players with realistic games that replicated those in a Vegas casino. The list of games below includes the top games you will find at Pennsylvania online casinos.

• Blood Suckers II
• Dead or Alive
• Divine Fortune
• Drive: Multiplier Mayhem
• Gonzo’s Quest

Konami: Konami is a household name in the online casino industry. As of the time of writing, this slot developer is only available at select casinos and with only a handful of Konami slot games. Here is a list of games available at select PA casinos:

• African Diamond
• Ancient Dragon
• China Shores
• Full Moon Diamond
• Solstice Celebration

IGT: IGT is a massive global brand with more than 1,000 styles of slot machines in brick-and-mortar casinos and hundreds available online. But there is a limited number of IGT slots in Pennsylvania. This list includes the top games you’ll be able to find online.

• The Big Easy
• Cleopatra
• Crown of Egypt
• King of Atlantis
• Pixies of the Forest

Other game developers entering the Pennsylvania market include Incredible Technologies, Everi Gaming, GAN, H5G, and Slot Symphony.

Video poker

Video poker games are often lumped together with slots. The main difference is that players retain a certain measure of control over the way the game proceeds.

Video poker creates a virtual simulation of a typical five-card draw poker hand. The player receives five cards, can choose to hold as many as they like and then redraws.

The goal is to make a five-card hand that qualifies as a winner. Exactly which rank of hand is required to win varies from game to game.

Table games

Players who prefer a more tactile experience tend to stick to table games. These are games that use a virtual simulation of activities that involve playing cards, dice, balls, or prize wheels.

Blackjack

The most common table game is blackjack. This card game is a competition between the player and the dealer to see whose combination of cards can get closest to 21 in value.

The catch is that the player must act before the dealer and rely on incomplete information to do so. As a result, the casino retains a slight mathematical edge.

However, players can mitigate this edge by using basic strategy. Basic strategy is a widely published set of behaviors designed to play blackjack optimally.

Roulette

The second-most common table game is roulette.

This French version of the game is found in almost any casino with table games. In fact, PlaySugarHouse elected to launch three variants of roulette in its PA online casino before publishing any versions of blackjack.

Basically, roulette involves a randomly released ball falling into a spinning wheel with numbered slots. Players wager based upon which numbers they believe the ball will fall into.

When playing roulette, you will choose between European and American roulette. European roulette features only a single zero on the wheel and boasts better odds for the players. American roulette, on the other hand, features a 0 and a 00, worsening the odds for players.

There are a variety of choices and combinations of numbers that players can choose to bet. Roulette is a staple for casinos due to its pace of play and chance at incredible winnings. A correct bet on a single number will pay 35:1.

Craps

Craps seems to be a bit less likely to appear in PA online casinos. The game itself, which plays with dice rolls, a large tub-like pit, and myriad ways to wager, is likely a challenge for programmers to realize in a virtual setting.

Nonetheless, craps is a dice-based game, which involves players attempting to roll certain numbers on a pair of dice. Players wager based upon the likelihood of various combinations appearing on the dice.

The probability of those combinations often determines the prescribed payout for various wagers on the board. The casinos generate their profit margin by ensuring that the payout odds are worse than the event odds.

For example, a particular number may only have one chance in three of occurring, but a successful wager will only payout 2:1.

Other table games

Several table games are available from time to time at online casinos. These games are less common and, frankly, have a bigger house edge to them.

Nevertheless, they can be a fun option for someone looking for a change of pace. Some other table games include:

• Casino Hold ’em
• Caribbean Stud
• EZ Baccarat
• Let It Ride
• Pai Gow Poker
• Three-card poker
• Ultimate Texas Hold ’em

Live dealer games at PA casinos

People often speak about the “next big thing.” For online gambling in the US, live dealer games are that thing.

This style of online casino game has been nothing short of a revolution. It has propelled casinos in New Jersey to great heights. Live dealer games will come to a Pennsylvania online casinos as soon as the operators can get it off the ground.

Essentially, live dealer games are games dealt in real-time and broadcast live across the site. Real dealers run the games in an interactive studio located in or near the actual land-based casino itself. In fact, there are a few games conducted on the casino floor itself.

Players can place their bets, interact with the dealers, or even interact with one another. Some versions of live dealer games have even expanded to allow players to have multiple views of the game in action.

So far, the following games are available in a live dealer setting in New Jersey. Hopefully, they will appear in Pennsylvania soon:

• Baccarat
• Blackjack
• Casino Hold ’em
• Roulette
• Three-card poker
• Ultimate Texas Hold ’em

Stay on top of things with your favorite online site. Live dealer games are not something to miss.

More about PA’s legal online gambling industry

Online poker, online casino table games, and slots became legal in Pennsylvania as a part of a comprehensive gambling expansionpackagepassed by state legislators in October 2017.

The PGCB is providing regulatory oversight for the local online gambling industry. Casinos could get all three types of interactive gaming licenses at once for a $10 million licensing fee. The cost was $4 million each individually for slots, table games, and peer-to-peer games like poker.

There is no limit on the number of skins, or alternatively branded online gambling operations, that can operate under each licensee. However, regulations designed by the board stipulate branding for the skins must clearly identify the licensee. Plus, players can only create one account per licensee, not per skin.

Potential PA online casinos

According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), there are 10 stand-alone and racetrack casinos and two smaller resort casinos operating inside the state. Plus, a 13th casino, Live! Philadelphia, is coming to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex area, home of Philadelphia’s professional sports teams.

All of these PA casino operations could have applied for online gambling operator licenses in the state beginning April 16, 2018. The properties had until July 16 to turn in applications for a $10 million comprehensive interactive gaming license. With this license, casinos can offer online poker, online slots, and online table games.

There were nine casinos which applied:

• Harrah’s Philadelphia
• Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
• Mount Airy Casino Resort
• Parx Casino
• Rivers Casino Pittsburgh
• Wind Creek (formerly Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem)
• Rivers Philadelphia (formerly SugarHouse Casino)
• Valley Forge Resort Casino
• Live! Philadelphia Casino (under development)

After applying, Rivers Casino Pittsburg eventually rescinded its application, electing to punt on online gambling. Stadium Casino, now called Live! Philadelphia, did something similar, opting to forgo an online poker license.

Meanwhile, both Presque Isle Downs and Mohegan Sun Pocono applied for a la carte licenses. Presque Isle opted to skip poker. Mohegan surprisingly signed up for all three at a cost of $2 million more than its competitors. However, like Rivers and Live!, it too abandoned its online poker plans.

That left 12 unclaimed interactive licenses. PGCB opened up a process for qualified gambling entities (QGE) from outside of Pennsylvania to claim them.

Only two groups applied. MGM Resorts has preliminary approval for all three categories of license. Golden Nugget Atlantic City can offer table games and slots, but no online poker.

These two major US gaming players will be among the last to launch online casino and sports betting products in PA. They will also be the only sites without a PA land-based casino partner.

Potential PA online poker sites

The first online poker site to go live in the state was PokerStars PA when it fully launched on Nov. 6, 2019. The global poker brand is offered in conjunction with its land-based counterpart Mount Airy Casino Resort.

Today, 10 of 12 Pennsylvania casinos have poker rooms. Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin and Valley Forge Casino Resort are the only casinos in the state that do not have poker rooms.

More than 220 live poker tables are operating across the state with the 10 rooms pulling in an average of $4 million in revenue every month.

Plans for Live! in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex area include opening a poker room when the facility opens its doors in early 2021.

In addition to Mount Airy, six more PA casinos plan to offer an online poker counterpart. Those that will launch an online poker room in Pennsylvania (MGM is applying as an out-of-state entity) include:

• Harrah’s Philadelphia
• Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
• Parx Casino
• Wind Creek Casino
• Rivers Casino Philadelphia
• Valley Forge Resort Casino
• MGM Resorts (QGE – no land-based partner)

PA online gambling site safety

PGCB will regulate all online gaming sites in the state. This is the same branch of the state government that regulates all land-based PA casinos.

Other important points regarding PA online gambling security

The regulations designed by PGCB will include several security measures specifically designed to:

• Ensure player balances are held in a separate account from operating funds
• Force sites to implement a rigorous player verification process
• Prevents minors from gaining access
• Deal with problem gamblers
• Force sites to implement geolocation software making sure all players are within the state
• All deposits and withdrawals are processed securely

As a blackjack fanatic and occasional visitor the Jersey Shore, I’ve found myself in my fair share of Atlantic City casinos hunting down blackjack games.

I guess I’m a minor-league expert on blackjack in AC.

Even after the tumultuous past few years of casino closings and projects that failed to launch, Atlantic City is a little Mecca of blackjack. When you compare the setting of my favorite AC casinos to Las Vegas, there’s really no comparison. In South Jersey, you’ve got miles of beaches, the beautiful boardwalk, and a countryside so pastoral that the area was once covered in health spas. In Vegas, you’ve got acres of desert and miserable weather pretty much year-round.

Well I’ve finally done it. I’ve played at or at least gathered details on every blackjack game in the city. In this post, I cut right to the chase and discuss the best blackjack games in AC.

The Best Blackjack Odds

When most people hear the phrase “the best blackjack,” they think of the game that gives the house the smallest advantage. That’s a totally reasonable assumption, but I don’t think it tells the whole story. I’ll start there, since that’s what most people want to know right off the bat.

The best blackjack game in Atlantic City (in terms of odds) is at the Golden Nugget. It’s a game played with a six-deck shoe, which gives the house a smaller edge than the standard eight-deck shoe. The other rules that make it favorable to players – dealers stand on soft seventeen, and players are allowed to make a late surrender. A late surrender is a common rule available in AC which gives the player the right to forfeit and retain half his wager after the dealer checks for blackjack.

Taken all together, these rules give the casino a 0.34% advantage over players following basic strategy. The late surrender rule is worth 0.8% all by itself. What’s the catch? You have to be willing to wager at least $50 per hand. It’s a high-roller game, though $50 per bet is not exactly out-of-this-world expensive. Tables requiring $1,000 wagers per hand are common in VIP rooms in Vegas. But I imagine it’s out of the reach of most casual blackjack players.

Every other casino in the city (besides Bally’s) has a six-deck game with similar rules, available for minimum bets of $25. The reason for the cheaper bets? They don’t allow late surrender. You can even find $10 minimum six-deck shoe games during the daytime at Borgata, but no late surrender is allowed in that game, either. The house edge for these games (without the benefit of the late surrender rule) is 0.42%.

The Best Budget Game

Part of the problem people have with blackjack in Atlantic City is that they think all the games follow the same rules. I’ll admit that the majority of blackjack games in the city’s casinos are identical. They look like this: played with an eight-deck shoe, allowing double down on any first two cards, dealer hits on soft 17, you can split up to three times, and doubling after splitting is allowed. That game gives the casino an edge of about 0.67% against basic strategy.

Here’s the thing – I don’t think this is such a bad game. Look, you knew going in that blackjack in AC isn’t nearly as good as blackjack in Las Vegas, right? So when you talk about a “budget” blackjack game, you have to know that you’re not going to get great odds.

The fact that every casino in Atlantic City (except for the Borgata) offers a blackjack game as described above makes it my favorite choice for bettors on a budget. The game at the Borgata is identical, except that dealers STAND on a soft total of 17, so the house edge against basic strategy is 0.44%, slightly better than at the other casinos up and down the boardwalk.

I’ve decided that the Borgata’s basic blackjack table, with minimum bets of $10 (or even $5 during the day off-peak season) and a decent house edge of 0.44%, it’s the type of game I’ll sit at and play for an hour without paying much attention. At $25 an hour, it’s cheaper than a night at the movies, and you meet the most interesting people. Don’t forget that AC casinos are on fire for customer service right now, with their profits in the toilet. I got good free drinks all night on my last game in the cheap seats at the Borgata even though I ended up losing about $10 an hour all told.

Try and avoid any extremely low-limit games you find in Atlantic City. In the year 2011 I started seeing games that allowed wagers of just $1. Of course, there’s a catch – you have to pay a $0.25 commission fee for each hand you join. This makes every hand a sucker bet, since the player starts out an extra quarter-point in the hole to the casino.

The Worst Game in Atlantic City

The only tables I’ll never go near are now available in every single open property in the city. The dreaded single-deck blackjack game.

Ac Casinos News

You should always be suspicious when a casino deals a single deck game. More than likely, the rules are such that the game can’t be profitable for even a low-level card counter. That’s definitely the case in Atlantic City. There is not one single-deck game that pays 3-to-2 for a natural blackjack. I’ve looked and I can confirm that every single-deck game (even at my beloved Borgata) pays 6-to-5. That one rule gives the house a monstrous boost in its edge – 1.58% against basic strategy.

Any single-deck game you come across (that’s not in the high-roller or VIP section) is the worst game in the city.

Conclusion

Las Vegas tables tend to have the most liberal rules in the world of blackjack. In Atlantic City, the addition of features like late surrender or stand-on-soft-17 looks nice, but you have to pay for those privileges with an increased advantage to the casino. If you find yourself in South Jersey itching for a blackjack game, make sure you know the games available at the casino you’re headed to before you leave. Most of the casinos in AC aren’t great for blackjack players – unless you have a fat bankroll.