West Virginia is well on its way in joining Pennsylvania, New Jersey , Delaware and Nevada in offering online casino betting.
Last month West Virginia passed Bill 2934 with bipartisan agreement subsequently coming into law after the 15 days of inaction intentionally left by Gov. Jim Justice to expire. This was a huge step forward for online gambling WV.
Similar to its neighboring state of Pennsylvania there is an air of anticipation that online casino and online poker will be extremely successful. Currently only preexisting land based casinos have the opportunity to purchase online gambling licenses.
These include:
- Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races
- Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort
- The Casino Club at The Greenbrier
- Mardi Gras Casino & Resort
- Wheeling Island Hotel
So now we wait for the policy framework to be put in place, and online launch which should need approximately one year.
When will WV online casino and online poker launch?
At the moment, there is no date set for launch, however we do anticipate that it will be at least one year. Only just two weeks ago, PA announced their launch date for July 15,and bear in mind that their Bill was passed in October 2017, which was nearly 2 years ago. Inevitably, WV online casinos will be second to market behind PA online casinos.
Will WV online casinos offer better payout ratios than PA?
For anyone that resides near the borders of WV and PA, you have the luck of potentially choosing the state with the best odds for players. PA’s licensing and tax rate on operators in their state is very costly and onerous. It’s speculated, that high costs reduce the pay out ratios to players and online bonuses. WV may implement a costly licensing and tax framework, however as it is second to market, WV online casinos may find it challenging without the support of the State. To gain market share WV online casinos should be planning to offer better payout ratios and better online bonuses to attract online players.
How old do I need to be to play online?
Current requirements are 21 and above for land based casinos. This age requirement is also applicable to WV and PA online casinos.
Do I need to reside in West Virginia to bet online?
No you don’t have to reside in WV, but you do need to be physically in the state. How they police this will be via you ISP.
How does West Virgina compare to Pennsylvania in online gambling?
WV compared to PA may be behind the 8 ball is obtaining market share. Not only because it will be second to market, but because it only has 5 online casino operators when compared to 10 from PA.
Pennsylvania online casino operators include:
- Harrah’s Philadelphia
- Hollywood Casino
- Mount Airy Casino
- Parx Casino
- Sands Bethlehem
- SugarHouse Casino
- Valley Forge Casino
- Presque Isle Downs
- Mohegan Sun Pocono
- Stadium Casino
West Virginia however borders many more states than Pennsylvania which do no offer online betting, and hence they may be able to attract players from other states more readily than PA. Although West Virginia may have this advantage over Pennsylvania with cross border opportunities, their second to market disadvantage will be hard to overcome.