Arkansas Sports Betting
The legal Arkansas sports betting market consists of online wagering and retail sportsbooks at casinos.
Arkansas sports betting sites accept customers 21 or older and allow fans to place wagers from anywhere in the state.
The AR Racing Commission regulates online sports betting in Arkansas to ensure sportsbook apps and websites comply with all consumer protection regulations.
Other Arkansas online betting options include horse racing betting sites and daily fantasy sports apps.
Legal Arkansas Betting Sites
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21+ and present in AR. T&Cs Apply. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and want help, call 1-800-522-4700.
Arkansas Sports Betting Apps
Arkansas online sports betting began in March 2022 after lawmakers finalized the rules regulating mobile sportsbook apps and betting sites.
Three Arkansas betting apps have launched since then, leaving room for up to five more online sportsbooks under state law.
- Launch Date: March 2022
- Expert Review: Betly Arkansas
Betly Sportsbook is the official online sportsbook of Delaware North, the parent company of Southland Casino in West Memphis.
The Betly Arkansas app covers all major professional and college sports, features an intuitive interface, and welcomes new users with an easy-to-clear bonus.
However, Betly could improve by offering more prop bets for the major sports leagues and providing live data for in-play wagering.
If Betly Sportsbook improves those two issues, Betly could compete with more prominent online betting apps.
- Launch Date: May 2022
- Expert Review: Bet Saracen Arkansas
Saracen Casino Resorts offers online sports betting in Arkansas through the BetSaracen app and website. The BetSaracen app features a plain design but runs smoothly and provides a straightforward wagering experience.
BetSaracen offers a standard menu of wagers and features. Betting markets cover professional and college sports, in-play betting, and international competitions.
- Launch Date: September 2022
The Oaklawn Sports app launched for Arkansas bettors in September 2022 as the state’s third online sports betting option.
Although Oaklawn Sports is a local brand managed in-house, it provides a wealth of wagering options thanks to its technology partnership with experienced software and risk management provider GAN Limited.
The Oaklawn Sports betting app caters to local Arkansas bettors by offering odds on games involving hometown favorites. While some online sportsbooks provide limited coverage of Arkansas sports, Oaklawn Sportsbook covers local teams extensively.
For example, fans can find hundreds of markets for upcoming games involving Central Arkansas, Arkansas Little Rock, Arkansas State, and others.
Arkansas Sports Betting Bonuses
Most Arkansas betting sites welcome new users with bonuses in exchange for making their first deposit or placing their first wager.
Licensed sportsbooks change their welcome bonuses periodically, but second chance bets are the most common.
For example, a new user who claims a second chance promo, places a $100 first bet, and loses would receive $100 in bonus bets as a consolation prize.
Occasionally, Arkansas betting sites offer first deposit bonuses to all new customers. Deposit bonuses are even more valuable because they reward all new customers equally.
In contrast, second chance bet bonuses only pay for customers who place a losing first wager.
However, not all Arkansas sportsbooks even offer welcome bonuses, because only a handful of operators compete for new users. There’s not as much incentive for small, locally-owned sportsbooks to spend on big bonuses as for sports betting sites in hyper-competitive states.
Arkansas Sportsbook Promo Codes
Arkansas sports betting sites occasionally launch welcome bonuses that require promo codes, but they typically issue the same offer to all new customers with no code required.
BettingUSA updates this table as Arkansas sportsbooks change their bonuses and promo codes.
| Online Sportsbook | Promo Code | Bonus Offer |
|---|---|---|
| Betly Arkansas Promo Code | N/A | 200% up to $200 |
| BetSaracen Promo Code | N/A | Various Daily Promos |
| Oaklawn Sports Offer Code | N/A | $250 First Bet Insurance |
How to Bet Online In Arkansas
Fans 21 and older can participate in legal Arkansas sports betting online, from anywhere in the state.
Getting started is a three-step process that involves selecting a legal online sportsbook, signing up for an account, and depositing funds:
Arkansas Online Betting Deposits
Sports fans can fund their online betting accounts through various electronic and cash-based methods approved by the Arkansas Racing Commission.
The complete list of available deposit methods varies by sportsbook, but common options include credit cards, debit cards, PayNearMe, PayPal, Venmo, and Apple Pay.
Regulations adopted by the Commission allow licensed Arkansas betting apps to accept any combination of the following funding methods:
- Debit cards
- Credit cards
- ACH bank transfers
- In-person cash deposits at Arkansas casinos
- Personal checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders delivered in person at the casino or via mail
- Wire transfers initiated in person at the casino or remotely at the customer’s bank
- Transfer from the customer’s safekeeping or front money account at the casino
- Any other method the Commission approves
Additionally, Arkansas regulations allow deposits via “funds derived from the extension of credit to the patron by the licensee.”
Typically, online betting regulations in other states explicitly prohibit sportsbooks from extending credit to customers to promote responsible gambling.
Arkansas Sports Betting Locations
Arkansas is home to three retail sportsbooks.
The Race and Sports Book at Oaklawn was the first to offer legal sports betting in July 2019.
Current Arkansas sportsbook locations include:
The future received a sports betting license in 2021, but construction on the casino remains on hold amid .
How Arkansas Sports Betting Works
Arkansas legalized sports betting in November 2018 through a statewide ballot measure asking voters if they approve an amendment to bring sports betting to four pre-selected locations:
- Southland Casino in West Memphis
- Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs
- Saracen Casino in Pine Bluff
- The future Legends Resort and Casino
As directed by the amendment, the Arkansas Racing Commission regulates sports betting and oversees the licensing process.
Licenses for the two additional casinos are not to exceed $250,000, but the commission has broad authority to manage the application process and determine Arkansas sports betting rules.
The measure also established tax rates for all four Arkansas casinos: they are taxed at a rate of 13% on the first $150,000,000 of net gaming receipts and 20% on net gaming receipts exceeding $150,000,001.
Taxes collected by the state are distributed as follows:
- 55% to the state general revenue fund
- 5% to the city in which the casino is located, unless the casino is not located in a city. In that case 19.5% goes to the county in which the casino is located
- 5% to the Arkansas Racing Commission for distribution to horse and greyhound racing purses
- 8% to the county in which the casino is located
Later, the Arkansas Racing Commission approved rules to authorize online sports betting.
Under the amended rules, casinos may partner with third-party operators to launch up to two sports betting apps and websites (“skins”) apiece.
In total, Arkansas can eventually support up to eight online sportsbooks.
A controversial rule in Arkansas sports betting regulations requires casinos to receive at least 51% of revenue from online sports betting. In other states, sports betting operators negotiate revenue sharing directly with their casino partners.
The 51% rule may dissuade some operators from entering the Arkansas market due to the high costs they already assume for marketing, customer acquisition, and risk management.
However, every casino in Arkansas has confirmed it plans to offer online sports betting.
How Arkansas Legalized Online Sports Betting
In November 2021, the Arkansas Racing Commission announced it would consider a rules amendment authorizing licensed sportsbooks to offer online sports betting to fans located anywhere within state lines.
The Commission approved the rules amendment in December 2021 to authorize Arkansas sports betting sites and mobile apps to take wagers from customers located anywhere within state lines.
The Arkansas Joint Budget Committee approved the rules in February 2022, clearing the way for the first Arkansas online sportsbooks to launch in early March.
Arkansas Daily Fantasy Sports Apps
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19+, T&Cs Apply. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit www.800gambler.org. If you are in Arizona, call the toll-free Arizona statewide helpline at 1-800-NEXTSTEP or text NEXT-STEP to 53342. You may also visit problemgambling.az.gov.
Daily fantasy sports are legal in Arkansas under legislation passed in 2017. Arkansas taxes DFS operators and restricts them from offering contests based on college sports, but the state exercises no regulatory authority otherwise.
In other words, fantasy sports are legal but unregulated in Arkansas. See BettingUSA’s Arkansas DFS guide for legal details, fantasy pick ’em updates, and a complete list of reputable operators:
Arkansas Horse Racing Betting
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In-person and online horse racing betting are legal in Arkansas.
The state is also home to a single thoroughbred race track that offers pari-mutuel wagering, simulcasting, and a racino.
Learn more about the current state of horse racing in Arkansas and see recommended pari-mutuel wagering sites:
Arkansas Online Gambling
Online casinos and poker sites are not legal in Arkansas. However, Sweepstakes casinos offer casino-style games for real money that closely resemble the experience.
Arkansas is not actively seeking to legalize online gambling sites, but we will cover any developments as they happen.
Arkansas Online Poker
Online poker may be on its way to Arkansas due to a largely overlooked quirk in the 2018 law that legalized sports betting.
The word “poker” did not appear in the text of the amendment approved by voters in 2018, but regulations issued the following year include an entire chapter dedicated to the regulation of online poker.
This does not mean Arkansas online poker sites are launching anytime soon, but it definitely shows state regulators have it in mind.
In-person poker is heavily restricted in the state of Arkansas and state law bans betting on almost anything that doesn’t happen at a racetrack or approved betting site.
A.C.A. 5-66-112 of the Arkansas Code states:
If a person bets any money or any valuable thing on any game of brag, bluff, poker, seven-up, three-up, twenty-one, vingt-et-un, thirteen cards, the odd trick, forty-five, whist, or at any other game of cards known by any name now known to the law or with any other or new name or without any name, upon conviction he or she is guilty of a violation and shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
The penalty isn’t overly harsh but it does clearly indicate the state’s stance on participating in real money poker games.
The code also has laws that make it a crime to operate a “gambling house” as a Class D felony punishable by up to 6 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Arkansas Online Lottery
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Must be 18 or older to play the lottery. Jackpocket is not affiliated with any State Lottery. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Please visit Terms of Service at Jackpocket.com for full terms of service.
Residents may buy Arkansas lottery tickets online using authorized lottery ticket courier services.
The AR Lottery itself does not sell tickets online, but users can download the Jackpocket app to order Powerball, Mega Millions and Natural State Lottery tickets without visiting a retailer in person.
Once orders are placed through the lottery app, an employee of the courier service will visit an authorized Arkansas Lottery retailer to buy the tickets, scan and upload a copy of the ticket, and pay winnings to the user.
Arkansas Sports Betting FAQ
Mike Murphy is the founder of ycgts.shop and has over 10 years of experience in the legal gambling industry. A regular attendee of industry trade shows and conferences, Mike is a strong proponent in the idea of a well regulated online betting industry.
Steve Ruddock is the content director for BettingUSA and the Editor-in-Chief of Gaming Law Review.
Steve has covered the legal and legislative developments in the US gambling sector for more than a decade for online and print publications.