After three days of testing, there is no longer an “hours of operation” sign hanging on the front door of the Play SugarHouse online sportsbook in Pennsylvania. As of 10 a.m. Friday morning, the first betting site in PA is open for ’round-the-clock business.
The Apple-friendly mobile version of Play SugarHouse, however, remains unavailable in the App Store heading into the weekend. Until the app — a nearly identical version of which the App Store OK’d in New Jersey last year — gets its approval, bettors can only access Play SugarHouse on the Web via pa.playsugarhouse.com and on Android devices.
The site is currently offering a first-deposit promotion of a 100% match up to $250, with a customer-friendly 1x playthrough requirement. Unfortunately, some deposit methods available in New Jersey, such as PayPal, are not currently options for Keystone State customers. On the bright side, while the site warns that debit card deposits might not be approved by a player’s banking institution, we had no issues at all successfully depositing on the site via VISA debit card.
Weekend betting options
It’s a busy sports weekend as the calendar turns from May to June, and here’s a look at some of the key events and the SugarHouse odds.
NBA Finals, Game 2
The Toronto Raptors are 2-point favorites to take a 2-0 series lead, with SugarHouse offering a nice-to-see vig of better than -110 (Golden State Warriors +2 costs -107, Raptors -2 costs -109). Golden State is +110 on the moneyline; Toronto stands at -125. The total points line is 215.5, two points higher than it was for Game 1 (in which 227 points were scored).
The Warriors have fallen from roughly a -300 favorite to win the series to -162, while the Raps sit at +135. And Raptors forward Pascal Siakam made a huge leap in Finals MVP race after Game 1, shooting to the third shortest odds at +700, behind only Stephen Curry (-110) and Kawhi Leonard (+200).
Stanley Cup Finals, Game 3
With the series shifting to St. Louis knotted at one game apiece, the Blues are -124 faves in Game 3, with the Boston Bruins priced at +102. On the puck line, it’s Boston +1.5 goals at -278, St. Louis -1.5 at +228.
The Bruins are still slight -121 favorites to hoist the Cup, and Blues bettors can get +102 — a decent price, but not nearly as handsome a reward as was available early in the year. Boston goalie Tuukka Rask sits as the favorite to win the Conn Smythe at +105.
MLB action
The national attention will be focused on the Red Sox and Yankees (Boston, at home, is a -139 favorite tonight; the Yanks are +123), but in Pennsylvania, bettors might look to put their money behind the home-state teams.
The NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies have a tough assignment against the Dodgers in Los Angeles and offer a +143 moneyline price for Friday night’s 10:10 p.m. ET start with Jake Arrieta on the mound against L.A. righty Kenta Maeda.
The Pittsburgh Pirates host the Milwaukee Brewers in an important series in an NL Central division in which only six games separate all five teams, but with struggling Chris Archer pitching, the home team is a +105 underdog.
Other sports
Tennis’ second major of the year, the French Open, continues all weekend with ever-shifting odds, offering a perfect opportunity for new bettors to dabble in live wagering.
In golf, Jordan Spieth came into Friday two strokes off the lead at The Memorial Tournament and the betting favorite at +500.
And Madison Square Garden plays host to an important boxing match with lopsided odds, as undefeated British sensation Anthony Joshua (-3335) defends his partial claim to the heavyweight throne in his U.S. debut against underdog Andy Ruiz (+950). At least it’s more competitive on paper than the next two weekends’ marquee matchups, for which Gennady Golovkin and Tyson Fury are both listed as 1/100 sure shots against relatively anonymous opposition.
