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. More importantly, 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, greyhound racing, and fantasy sports. The Arkansas Lottery also allows third-party courier service Jackpocket.com to sell state lottery tickets online.
Legal Arkansas Betting Sites
21+ and present in AR. 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 needed to regulate mobile sportsbook apps and betting sites. Three Arkansas betting apps and websites have launched since then, leaving room for up to five more online sportsbooks under state law.
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 periodically as Arkansas sportsbooks change their bonuses and promo codes.
Online Sportsbook | Promo Code | Bonus Offer |
---|---|---|
Betly Arkansas Promo Code | N/A | Up to $250 Bonus Bet |
BetSaracen Promo Code | N/A | Various Daily Promos |
Oaklawn Sports Offer Code | N/A | $250 First Bet Insurance |
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 there are only a handful of operators competing for new users. There’s just not as much incentive for small, locally-owned sportsbooks to spend on big bonuses as there is for sports betting sites in hyper-competitive states.
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 Sportsbook 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, when General Manager Wayne Smith placed a $5 bet on the Dallas Cowboys to beat the New York Giants in the NFL season opener. Current Arkansas sports betting locations include:
The future Legends Resort and Casino received a sports betting license in 2021, but construction on the casino remains on hold amid ongoing legal disputes.
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 authorities beyond that in terms of managing the application process and determining 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, licensed casinos may partner with third-party operators to launch up to two mobile 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, third-party operators such as DraftKings and FanDuel 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, risk management, and so on. However, every land-based casino in Arkansas has confirmed it plans to offer online sports betting.
Arkansas Daily Fantasy Sports Apps
Arkansas legalized daily fantasy sports in 2017 to remove any possible ambiguity. Governor Asa Hutchinson signed HB 2250 into law in April of 2017 after the bill easily cleared house and senate votes earlier that year.
HB 2250 is a bit different than legislation enacted in other states in that it does not specify any new regulations specific to fantasy beyond defining what a legal fantasy sports contest is and enacting an 8% tax rate on DFS operators.
There are numerous Arkansas daily fantasy sports sites and apps these days but two stand out above all the rest in terms of name recognition and the number of active players: FanDuel and DraftKings.
Fantasy Pick’em Sports in Arkansas
Fantasy pick’em sports sites are available in Arkansas for fans 18 or older, but they are likely operating on limited time.
In February 2024, the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) ordered PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy to halt all pick’em fantasy sports contests.
In cease-and-desist letters sent to each operator, the DFA said it believes their fantasy pick’em contests are essentially player prop bets and constitute unlicensed sports betting in violation of Arkansas law.
The letters explained that traditional daily fantasy sports sites are legal in Arkansas but that operators may not offer unlicensed sports betting. In a press release, the DFA added “these unlicensed operators” do not pay sports betting taxes and do not have to verify that all customers are 21 or older.
PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy have stated they do not agree with the DFA’s assessment of fantasy pick’em contests and will challenge the order. Both operators remain open for business in Arkansas, but they face an uphill battle in securing a permanent solution that allows them to offer player-vs-house fantasy pick’em contests.
However, Underdog Fantasy and PrizePicks have developed peer-vs-peer pick’em contests that may have a greater likelihood of receiving regulators’ approval. BettingUSA will update this page with more information as it becomes known.
Arkansas Horse Racing Betting
In-person and online horse racing betting are legal in Arkansas. The state is home to a single thoroughbred race track that offers pari-mutuel wagering, simulcasting, and casino games.
Readers can learn more about the current state of horse racing in Arkansas and see BettingUSA’s recommended pari-mutuel wagering sites below:
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 even 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 a shoo-in, but it definitely shows state regulators have it in mind.
In-person poker is heavily restricted in the state of Arkansas. Currently, there is not much by way of legal poker options. Arkansas law bans betting on almost everything if it doesn’t happen at a racetrack or approved betting site.
A.C.A. 5-66-112 of the Arkansas Code has this to say on the matter:
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
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery was established in 2009 as the state’s first official lottery. As the name indicates, the lottery is used to raise funds for sending kids to college. It has already awarded 133,000 scholarships in the handful of years it has been in operation.
Residents may buy Arkansas lottery tickets online through Jackpocket.com, which is the state’s only authorized third-party ticket courier service. 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 Jackpocket app, a Jackpocket employee will visit an authorized Arkansas Lottery retailer to buy real tickets in-person. Jackpocket will then scan a copy of the ticket, upload the image to the user’s personal account and pay 100% of any winnings to the user.
Jackpocket is the only lottery courier service authorized in Arkansas. Other websites may claim to offer legal Arkansas online lottery sales, but Jackpocket is the only one that is fully legal in the state.