An online sportsbook is the better fit for most bettors: you can bet from anywhere in a state where it is licensed, compare prices across several books in a minute and get more markets. A Las Vegas sportsbook is the better fit when you are in Nevada and want the room, the screens and a paper ticket you cash at the window.
Why this is a choice at all
For decades before 2018, Nevada was, in the Supreme Court’s words, “the only state venue for legal sports gambling in casinos.” The federal law that stopped the others, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, let the sports gambling that already existed carry on: in Nevada, that meant sports betting in casinos. The Supreme Court struck the law down in Murphy v. NCAA, decided on May 14, 2018, and states have been legalizing sports betting, in person, online or both, since.
So the choice depends first on where you are. A sportsbook licensed in your state, online or in a casino, is regulated there. Online sportsbooks check your location and take bets only while you are inside a state where they are licensed.
Betting at an online sportsbook
Opening an account takes a few minutes: usually your name, address, date of birth and the last four digits of your Social Security number, then a deposit. Most books ask for ID before your first withdrawal, and payout times depend on the method you choose.
- More prices: several books in one state post their own lines, and a half point on a spread or 10 cents on a moneyline adds up over a season
- More markets: player props, same-game parlays and live betting through the game
- Bonuses: sign-up offers and promotions, each with its own rollover rules; read them before you take one
- Anywhere in the state: a phone and a location check are all you need
What you give up is the room. You also carry more of the risk of betting too much and too fast, since a bet is one tap away. Most licensed books let you set deposit and loss limits in the account settings, and they are worth setting on day one.
Betting at a Vegas sportsbook
A Vegas book posts its games on a board or on printed sheets, each with a rotation number. You go to the window, give the rotation number, the bet and the stake, and the writer hands you a ticket. That ticket is the bet. Lose it and you have lost the bet, win or not.
- No account: cash in, ticket out, and cash back at the window when it wins
- The room: big screens, other bettors and a crowd for the Super Bowl or the first weekend of March Madness
- Fewer markets and one price: you get that book’s line, and walking to a second book for a better one takes time
- Winning tickets travel badly: if you fly home with one, check the back of the ticket for how long it stays valid and whether the book cashes it by mail
Many Nevada books also have their own apps, which work only inside Nevada.
Which to use
For week-to-week betting, an online book in your own state wins on price, on markets and on time. Having accounts at two or three books and taking the best number each time is the simplest edge a recreational bettor has, and a single Vegas window cannot match it.
For a trip, the Vegas book wins on the experience, and a ticket on the Super Bowl or the NCAA tournament from a casino window is part of why people go. Bet what you would spend on a show, and keep the ticket safe.
Before you open an account anywhere, read our sportsbook reviews. The betting guides explain spreads, totals and moneylines, and how to bet on NFL games puts them to work on the sport most people bet.