Jimmy Boyd in 
In late August of 2018, West Virginia became the fifth state (fourth outside of Nevada) to legalize sports betting. The first wager in the Panhandle State was taken at the Hollywood Casino.
At the time this was not only a big deal for those that lived in the state, but also those in surrounding states. West Virginia shares its border with Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky.
All of which did not have legalized sports betting at the time. Pennsylvania did join in on the fun just a few months after West Virginia, but the other states are still working on making it legal.
With that said Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio are all expected to make it legal by the end of 2020 and Maryland should open its doors sometime in 2021.
List of West Virginia Sportsbooks & Betting Locations
| Casino | Sportsbook Affiliate | Location (City) |
|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Casino | William Hill/Draft Kings | Ranson |
| Mountaineer | William Hill | New Cumberland |
| The Greenbrier | FanDuel/BetMGM | White Sulphur Springs |
| Wheeling Island | Suspended | Wheeling |
| Mardi Gras | Suspended | Cross Lanes |
There’s a lot that’s happened and some unique twists that come with West Virginia Sportsbooks. For starters, there were originally five sportsbook operations when the state first made sports betting legal in the fall of 2018.
Only three of those are still operational, as both the Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras Casinos have had to suspend their sportsbooks due a rift between owner (Delaware North) and the technology partner (Miomni).
Both of these books were located on the western side of the state, making the drive for those in southern Ohio and and eastern Kentucky a lot longer if they wanted to travel into the state to make a bet.
The goods news is that three books that are up and running are well spread out across the state. You have the Mountaineer Casino in New Cumberland, which is in the northern tip of West Virginia, making it easily accessible for those in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The main sportsbook operator on site at the Mountaineer is William Hill.
The Hollywood Casino is located in Ranson, right next to Charles Town, and is the biggest casino in the state. This book dominates the market in the state, largely because of it’s huge draw outside of the state. The Hollywood Casino is right next to two major cities in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. William Hill also runs the land-based sportsbook at this resort.
That leaves The Greenbrier, which is located in New Cumberland. This is the only private casino in the United States. Betting at this location is limited to Casino Club members and specific guests of the hotel. FanDuel is the main sportsbook operator at this site.
West Virginia Online Sports Wagering & Mobile Gaming
Online sports betting is available in the state of West Virginia, though it has come and gone.
The state was one of the first to get it up and going. Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras opened up the BetLucky online sportsbook in December of 2018, but it didn’t last long, as it was shutdown in March of 2019.
When BetLucky closed, there was no online wagering until later that year when DraftKings and FanDuel were launched in August. In January of 2020, BetMGM joined the party to give residents three online books to choose from.
A big thing to note with all three online sportsbooks are affiliated with a land-based casino, they are completely separate from the book on site.
For example, William Hill runs the sportsbook at the Hollywood Casino, while DraftKings is the online sportsbooks affiliated with them.
Note that the state allows each casino license to offer up to three online platforms. The Greenbrier has taken full advantage of this, as it has two online players in FanDuel and BetMGM.
One big thing to note with The Greenbrier, while betting on site is limited to members and hotel guests, any resident in the state can download the FanDuel or BetMGM and create an account.