Harrah’s Sportsbook Review
Harrah’s is one of the biggest names in casino gaming and sports betting alike, and in Nevada, Harrah’s sportsbook reviews are nothing short of glowing. Now, since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) has been overturned by the Supreme Court, other Harrah’s locations – like the Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack – can finally offer sports betting as soon as their state governments allow it.
Pennsylvania, with its large gambling industry, is one of the first states to formally legalize sports betting in the wake of PASPA, albeit they did so by putting a 36% tax on all sports betting revenue, which will unfortunately be passed along to Pennsylvania sports betting enthusiasts and Harrah’s sportsbook patrons.
Of course, Harrah’s sportsbook isn’t the only sports betting game in town, as PA residents have been able to wager on athletics at offshore sportsbooks like Bovada, SportsBetting, 5Dimes, and other top sites for years now. If the PA legislature continues to insist on such an exorbitant tax rate for Harrah’s sportsbook and other sports betting locales in the state, these online options – which are 100% legal to use – will look more and more attractive in the future.
That said, because of its nationwide presence, Harrah’s sportsbook might be able to absorb some of those taxation hits by balancing its Pennsylvania sportsbook services with its offerings in other states. In fact, this could actually work out in Harrah’s favor, as Harrah’s sportsbooks could conceivably use this multistate leverage to keep its lines priced more competitively than other Pennsylvania sports betting shops.
Harrah’s has already submitted its license application to the PA state government, which, when approved, will allow the Harrah’s sportsbook to open for business. While there is no hard timeframe for exactly when sports betting at Harrah’s Philadelphia will go live, most industry insiders believe that the state will approve all the existing casino and horse track sports betting applications in a matter of weeks, meaning that Harrah’s sportsbook could be offering PA residents and visitors a full sports wagering menu sometime in June or early July.
In any case, one thing is certain: The official Harrah’s sportsbook review should be in and updated well before the start of the 2018 NFL season in September, as the PA government is well aware that it stands to make the absolute most revenue if places like Harrah’s sportsbook can offer wagers on the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles prior to the actual start of the season.
If Harrah’s offered only a truncated wagering menu to its hundreds of thousands of annual PA patrons, you can be sure that the Harrah’s sportsbook reviews to come out of the area would be abysmal. Instead, Harrah’s sportsbook will offer full-service sports betting, meaning PA sports bettors will be able to put money on their favorite leagues, teams, and players from all over the world.
Harrah’s sportsbook will offer nonstop action on NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, and NCAA games, NASCAR races, international soccer, rugby, cricket, tennis, golf, and countless other events and matchups. PA sports bettors in Philadelphia will be able to use Harrah’s sportsbook to make straight bets, spread bets, totals bets, player and team props, futures, specials, and more.
Adding to Harrah’s sportsbook’s full complement of wagering options will be online sports betting, which is similarly allowed by the state, but which will take some time to get off the ground. The first sports bets at Harrah’s and other PA-area casinos and tracks will thus be limited to on-site activity, with bettors needing to be physically present at Harrah’s sports betting lounge to place their wagers. However, once online sports betting in Pennsylvania rolls out, that limitation will cease to exist, and PA residents will be able to wager at Harrah’s sportsbook from anywhere in the state.
You will certainly be able to wager on your mobile device at Harrah’s sportsbook once the facility’s online betting system is in place. However, this may take several more months to fully implement, so there will be a wait (which you can get around by using one of the aforementioned legal online sportsbooks serving the Pennsylvania area). Once up and running, though, you will be able to wager online at Harrah’s sportsbook from anywhere in the state, using only your smartphone or tablet device.
That said, there is a difference between a mobile Harrah’s sportsbook site and a mobile Harrah’s sportsbook app. For a proper app to be offered, there are a few more issues to consider, namely the reality of Apple and Google corporate policies that may interfere with a smooth roll-out of an official Harrah’s sportsbook app. Nevertheless, such an official app experience is likely coming, and you’ll hopefully have access to a native Harrah’s sportsbook app on your iPhone or Android device sometime in early 2019 at the latest.
Proxy betting was initially developed to bypass the Interstate Wire Act (1961), a federal law which forbids bookmakers from accepting wagers across state lines using telephones, the Internet, or other means of communication. Because proxy betting actually lets a traveling bettor hire a local third-party go-between to place their wagers for them, this phenomenon prevents folks from missing out on valuable wagers just because they’re out of the state. Harrah’s sportsbook is likely to offer proxy betting for this reason.
Even though the Harrah’s sportsbook will have mobile online betting, proxy betting gets around such products’ geo-fencing limitations. For this reason alone, there will always be a demand for the service, no good Harrah’s sportsbook review can omit the self-evident need for the venue to have comprehensive proxy betting for its clients in Pennsylvania.
