Earlier this week, online casino PlaySugarhouse.com sent its New Jersey players a message telling them that online sports betting was coming soon.
Well, they didn’t waste any time and on Thursday, SugarHouse Sportsbook soft-launched on the NJ gambling site with Android and iOS mobile apps available to play on the go.
SugarHouse joins DraftKings Sportsbook and playMGM as the three NJ online sports betting sites currently available.
SugarHouse integrates online casino and NJ sports betting
It’s a first for New Jersey, and a feather in the cap for SugarHouse: The company is the first to offer both sports betting and online casino on both the desktop and mobile versions of the software.
The other two mobile sports betting entrants, DraftKings and playMGM, have only managed to offer sportsbooks on their mobile products separate from any online casino.
On top of that, SugarHouse says that it now has “a ground-breaking loyalty program that seamlessly merges casino games with sports betting.”
“Players will earn loyalty and bonus points on every single sports and casino wager, including the more than 5 million Live In-Game bet options and 450 casino games and live dealer table games.”
The integration extends to player wallets, too. Fund your online sportsbook account and you can use your deposit to make sports bets and vice versa. All transactions are handled through a single account — and that includes bonuses.
Betting on innovation at SugarHouse Sportsbook
Sports bettors will have access to a bewildering range of opportunities to wager. If New Jersey follows the international experience, in-play betting will soon be the wager of choice for sports fans.
In-play betting lets players bet on a range of possibilities while the game is going on, making sports viewing much more interactive.
SugarHouse owner Rush Street Interactive explained just that in a press release announcing the launch:
“RSI and PlaySugarHouse.com are committed to offering players in New Jersey the most bang for their buck, with millions of Live In-Game bet offers. Great odds and advanced technology enables those In-Game bets at PlaySugarHouse.com to remain open longer and maximize betting opportunities during the game. Players have the opportunity to make a wide range of bets including who will win the game, upcoming plays, over/under for teams and players, partial game bet, parlays, and much more.”
Change your mind and cash out your bet
If you’ve ever changed your mind about a sports bet after you’ve placed it and the game looks like its going against you, modern sports betting gives you a chance to exit with grace.
Rush Street explained that its new integrated online casino and sportsbook can do just that:
“An innovative feature allows players to cash-out an active bet before the outcome is determined, allowing them to secure part of their winnings or cut their losses as the odds change.”
Three ways to look at betting odds
In June this year, RSI announced that it would be the first US-based operator to launch regulated online sports betting in South America after successfully applying for a license in Colombia.
Rush Street President Richard Schwartz is proud of his company’s expansion and believes that New Jersey will get the benefit of its experience:
“Being the first US-based gaming operator to launch a regulated online sportsbook outside of the US has been helpful in establishing the SugarHouse Online Sportsbook & Casino. We’ve matured our sportsbook product and validated that players value our proprietary sportsbook loyalty program, including earning points on every single bet.”
One of these benefits is an inclusive approach to sports bettors with different preferences. Newcomers can often find the presentation of sports betting odds confusing, so SugarHouse is offering three ways of looking at the numbers:
- American odds for those familiar with Vegas-style betting
- Fractional odds for those familiar with horse race betting
- Decimal odds that are easy to understand for new players to sports betting. Decimal odds are simply what you multiply your stake with in order to calculate payout (i.e. bet $100 at odd 3.50 and your payout is $350).
Kambi now powers two of the three mobile sportsbooks in New Jersey
Rush Street partnered with gaming technology company Kambi to develop its sportsbook. But Kambi is also the name behind the DraftKings mobile offer, stunning the market with its launch ahead of all the major casino operators.
Kambi’s CEO Kristian Nylen said in a statement:
“To be providing our Sportsbook to two of the three online operators currently live in New Jersey is a great achievement and provides further evidence that Kambi is the trusted sports betting partner for operators wishing to enter regulated markets.”
PlayMGM has a technology partnership with IGT and is at the moment the only IGT customer offering a mobile sportsbook. This is set to change soon.
FanDuel Sportsbook already provides the platform for the Meadowlands. That technology was developed in partnership with IGT. If, as widely expected, FanDuel launches its own mobile sports betting app, IGT will be behind it.
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) Director David Rebuck recently said in an interview that there are several mobile sportsbooks being tested and he expects more launches by the end of August.
Three looks like it will rapidly turn into four or more, and it won’t be long before all the licensed casinos with online sports betting aspirations are in the market.