NJ Sportsbook Website Review
When Sugarhouse launched its Sportsbook to the public in late August 2018 after New Jersey had become the first State in the USA to legalize sports betting, it would be just the third US sports betting brand to go online after DraftKings and PlayMGM (app only).
This all followed shortly after a Supreme Court ruling had lifted the 26-year-old Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act’s Federal ban on sports betting.
But Sugarhouse is unique in NJ at this time because Rush Street Gaming LLC, its operator, was the first to merge its already well-established Philadelphia-based SugarHouse online Casino with its new Sportsbook.
This will enable its gamers to seamlessly switch between the two, use the same deposit funds, earn pooled loyalty points from both and greatly widen their gambling playing field so that they can enjoy both an online Casino offering 450 games as well as a sportsbook able to offer more than 5 million betting options a year.
Betting Menu
Sugarhouse’s betting menu is one of the biggest in New Jersey, matching that of DraftKings (almost certainly because both sportsbooks are powered by world-renowned Kambi software) but, if it has any future intentions of becoming a global powerhouse, it will clearly need to increase its number of sports offerings.
For the time being, though, when only New Jersey punters can legally make bets on it, the Sugarhouse Sportsbook more than adequately covers the American market as well as an important chunk of the offshore international market, including as it does, the UK’s Premier Football League and Germany’s Bundesliga.
While all the major American sports like NFL and College football, MLB baseball, NBA, WNBA and College basketball, boxing, NHL ice hockey, and MMA have a strong presence, other international sports like motor racing, soccer, golf, tennis, rugby union, cricket, cycling and even darts have not been forgotten
Its betting markets within each sport are even more impressive. At any given moment they offer hundreds of different types of bets including moneyline wagers, spread bets, totals (team quarter, halfway etc), futures (league champions, major champions, World Cup winners etc) props (player, team and scoring props ) and also a wide variety of live, in-play betting.
Their pricing isn’t always quite as sharp as FanDuel’s, but it generally matches most of its other new NJ rivals – except perhaps in football spread bets.
SugarHouse also allows you to “Cash Out” a bet before the event you are betting on is complete. It could cut your losses, but if you are winning when you cash out, it could also earn you money – even if the game doesn’t end in your favor.
Betting Platform
SugarHouse Playbook’s betting platform is available via either a website or a mobile betting app in either iOS or Android technology which means you can go about your betting business with it using a PC at the office, a laptop at home or a Smartphone or tablet when you are out and about – perhaps in a stadium watching the very event on which you are wagering.
The highly regarded global software specialist Kambi Sport supplies SugarHouse with the technology that keeps it humming and makes the task of navigating its basically blue and white interface a relatively simple operation, even for the rookie punter.
The SugarHouse Casino/Sportsbook operates under the NJ license of the associated Golden Nugget Casino and at this stage, the Sportsbook is only open to punters from within the state of New Jersey who are 21 years or older.
Two excellent features available on both the website and the mobile app are a Search Bar and a Betting History.
The search bar will save you a lot of time and effort when looking for betting options or other information, and if you navigate to My Account → Statements → Summary you will be able to see your deposits, funds withdrawn, bets, wins and bonuses and it will all help to keep you on track of how you are doing; how much you’ve won and lost. The website version can also give you dates.
Bonuses and Promotions
SugarHouse Sportsbook has an extremely tempting first-deposit bonus. It is one of the best in New Jersey. They will double the amount of your first deposit, going from a minimum bet of $10 up to a ceiling of $250 so if you put $250 into your account you will find that you have a total of $500 to start wagering.
(ATOW), To collect the bonus, however, you will need to first register, enter the promo code SUGARSPORTS on the registration page and make your deposit.
As with all internet transactions with SugarHouse, you can be sure that its technology is high grade enough to keep them safe and secure. You should also make sure that you are within the boundaries of New Jersey State when doing this. Their G-tracking technology will show if you are not.
In line with most of the eight or so new NJ Sportsbook start-ups, promotional activity at this early stage seems to be limited, but at the time of writing Sugarhouse was offering pooled reward points for gambling activities on both their Casino and Sportsbook.
Customer Support
Live Chat 24/7 is available via the desktop version and the personnel manning this station have been reported to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.
There is no such luck if you are using a mobile app. In this case, you will need to seek help or customer support by calling (855) 752-9101 and talking to an operator.
Transactions
SugarHouse has a fairly wide variety of deposit and withdrawal options with tried and tested PayPal probably being one of the easiest and quickest payment methods – although you should know that you can only use it for withdrawals if you have already made deposits with it; likewise, ACH eCheck and Neteller.
You can also make deposits using Visa or MasterCard, wire transfers, SugarHouse Prepaid Cards or with Cash via a PayNearMe at 7-11 Stores and at the cages of either the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia or the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlanta.
Together with PayPal, ACH eCheck or Neteller you can also make a withdrawal from an ATM using your SugarHouse Prepaid Card or in cash from the cages of the two Land-Based Casinos mentioned above.
Summed Up
The SugarHouse Sportsbook/Casino operation may not have the fame and size of Sports Fantasy giants like DraftKings and FanDuel who were among the first US gaming brands to launch sports books when sports betting became legal in New Jersey a month or two ago.
It does have a whole lot going for it, though, and right now looks to be every bit as much of an attraction as any of its new rivals.
It’s impressive sports betting menu, though smaller than some of Europe’s international big guns, is bigger and better than all of its US rivals save perhaps DraftKings which uses the same excellent Kambi sports software.
It also offers one of the largest first deposit bonuses of all the new US sportsbooks including DraftKings and FanDuel and right now is in the unique position of being able to give its clients access to both a Casino with 450 games as well as a Sportsbook market offering a total of more than 5,000 bets a year.
And there is more! SugarHouse is also offering a Rewards Bonus which enables gamers to make reward points twice as fast if they play both its Sportsbook and the Casino and pool their points.
So yes, right now, it should be one of your top picks if you are thinking of getting into this exciting new form of online gambling.
