BetMGM’s loyal sports betting enthusiasts have some big news to celebrate: horse race betting is finally coming to this operator, allowing it to compete with the likes of TVG and Twin Spires.
Top Horse Racing Betting Apps in California
BetMGM recently announced a partnership with NYRA Bets, which is the official online wagering platform for the New York Racing Association. This likely means a BetMGM horse racing app in California will eventually launch.
With this development, it’s only a matter of time until BetMGM offers horse race betting California and beyond. As BetMGM has announced that it plans to incorporate NYRA’s existing platform and racing information in its upcoming horse racing app, we can make several important predictions about what the app might look like and how it will work.
Horse racing betting apps may become ever more popular in the Golden State in the coming months, as there will be no legal sports betting in California until at least the 2024 election.
Let’s break down everything you need to know about BetMGM’s horse betting app in California.
BetMGM California Horse Racing Bonus Code (4.2/5)
At the moment, it’s tough to say what opening bonus BetMGM will offer to new horserace wagerers in California. NYRA Bet, the platform BetMGM plans to incorporate into its own mobile platform, currently offers a 100% deposit match welcome bonus worth up to $200 of site credit.
In a nutshell, it applies to your initial wager so long as you input an appropriate BetMGM horse racing bonus code. For example, if you deposit $150, you’ll get $150 of site credit added to your account. Of course, there are a couple of strings attached.
For example, you have to play through the bonus credit amount at a rate of 2x the initial deposit amount. In the above example, a $150 deposit means you’ll need to play through that credit until you wager at least $300 within 30 days in order to withdraw the credit as cash.
Still, we expect BetMGM’s horse racing bonus to be at least this generous, if not better.
Quality of BetMGM’s Horse Racing App in California (4.6/5)
Whether people will ever use BetMGM’s upcoming horse racing app will be highly dependent on the quality of the mobile platform in question, especially since it has to compete with TVG Horse Racing and other mobile platforms.
Fortunately, the BetMGM horse racing mobile app will likely provide both desktop and mobile functionality. NYRA Bets and BetMGM’s upcoming app should both include live racing video, as well as moment-by-moment, picture-in-picture video viewing. This allows wagerers to get all the information they need to be confident as they put their money down.
The betting interface should be relatively straightforward to navigate. Furthermore, players will be able to access their betting slips from a drop-down menu, as well as place new wagers with a touch of a few buttons.
We expect customers to be able to view current betting pools and probable payouts with similar ease. NYRA Bets is renowned for its specificity and the wealth of information it provides to its bettors. This attention to detail should carry over in BetMGM’s mobile horse race betting app.
Even better, NYRA Bets is known to provide a feature called TrackMaster Selections. This will be integrated into the betting interface, and it places between one and three thumbs-up icons next to the top three choices for every harness and thoroughbred race in the US. Information about the rationales behind these choices will be provided so bettors can make informed decisions.
Availability of BetMGM’s Horse Betting App in California (5/5)
BetMGM’s upcoming horse racing app should be available both on desktop computers and on both iOS and Android devices. Despite its history of limiting gambling apps, Google should not limit any upcoming horse racing platform since it has not done so for other racing bet apps in the past.
Therefore, this app will be available to all Californians as soon as it launches. California itself has allowed online horse race wagering for decades at this point.
BetMGM Horse Betting Options (4.6/5)
We don’t expect BetMGM’s horse racing app to limit the available horse race options to its users. In fact, bettors will be able to place a wide variety of horse bets online, including:
- Win bets
- Place bets
- Show bets, where you wager on a horse finishing in either first, second, or third place
- Trifecta bets, where you wager on the positions of horses in the first to the third places
- Superfecta bets, which are the same as the above bets but incorporate a fourth-place pick
- Pick 5 wagers, which are the same as the above but incorporate a fifth-place pick, and so on
Indeed, horse racing enthusiasts will be able to place bets on almost any outcome in their favorite races. Since the BetMGM mobile horse betting site will incorporate data from the NYRA, bettors will also have access to a wealth of information so they can make educated choices about the likelihood of horses finishing in certain places.
BetMGM Live Horse Racing and Betting in California (4.8/5)
As mentioned, NYRA Bets already provides an excellent live horse racing interface for all of its users. Since BetMGM currently provides live stream betting for other types of sports wagering activities, it’s a no-brainer that live horse racing and betting will be provided on the upcoming horse racing app in California.
Live horse racing and wagering should be relatively seamless, allowing for the instantaneous transfer of your deposited funds into wagering pools. Bettors will be able to watch races unfold and put money down right up until the finish.
Furthermore, BetMGM’s general reputation for platform stability should come in handy here. We expect BetMGM’s live horse racing to be lag-free, even on very popular racing days when there will be a lot of traffic coming to the site.
BetMGM Horse Racing App California: Overall Score (4.7/5)
Ultimately, time will tell how exceptional the BetMGM horse racing app in California ends up being. But given NYRA Bet’s current performance and features, and BetMGM’s excellent reputation for interface stability and navigability, it’s likely that this upcoming horse racing app will shake the industry up for the better.
Soon, TVG and Twin Spires will have serious competition in the Golden State for the horse race betting market. We hope this app launches soon!
California Online Horse Racing
Horse racing in California has been around for quite some time. Pari-mutuel online and in-person betting has been legal for many years, as has in-person betting at both racetracks and off-track betting parlors. It is one of a handful of ways to legally gamble at 18 in California.
CA Racetracks
California is home to some of the most beautiful racetracks in the country. Many of these tracks are the sites of some of the more popular online horse race wagers found on apps like TVG and the upcoming BetMGM horse racing platform. The most popular racetracks in California include:
- Del Mar Fairgrounds, which is a thoroughbred club that seats 44,000 people. It’s a 1-mile track in the second-biggest in the entire western US
- Golden Gate Fields, another major racetrack near San Francisco. It’s the only thoroughbred race track you can find in Northern California and it usually holds races from December to June and from October to November
- Los Alamitos Race Course, which was built in 1947 and offers the largest purse in California of $2 million. Racing is offered year-round here
- Santa Anita Park, which is California’s premier racetrack and the biggest in the entire state; it seats 85,000 people. It hosts a lot of very famous races, including the Santa Anita Derby and the Breeders’ Cup
California Horse Racing History
Horse racing was first legalized in 1933 under the pari-mutuel model. It wasn’t long before various horse race tracks that already existed in California expanded their business and finally became legal enterprises. Legal sports wagers on horse racing have remained a staple of the state’s limited gambling industry ever since its inception, and it has never been illegal even with changes to state gambling laws.
Most California horserace gambling focuses on thoroughbred races. Online horserace wagering came in the 1990s when online betting apps were legalized in the US with specific laws or restrictions being left up to individual states. California opted to allow pari-mutuel online horserace betting.
Unfortunately, many of California’s most popular tracks have closed down over time, including Hollywood Park and Bay Meadows.
Most recently, California’s horse racing industry came under fire by activists in 2019 when several racehorses died as a result of freak accidents. However, many independent racetracks, including Churchill Downs have formed a new coalition to improve safety across the industry.
With luck, California’s horse racing industry is just beginning, especially with the development of new online horse race betting apps.
BetMGM Horse Racing FAQs
No. BetMGM’s online horse racing app in California has not been fully developed or even launched. But it will incorporate many of the major features and aspects of NYRA’s existing horse racing app, which is how we know what features BetMGM’s platform will include.
Yes. Online horse racing has been legal for several decades and is already available from other operators like TVG.
You’ll be able to download BetMGM’s mobile horse racing app from anywhere in California state lines.
Yes. We expect that live horse race betting will be one of the app’s most attractive features.
Not, but that’s because California doesn’t offer sports wagering whatsoever. However, this may change by 2025 if voters approve a sports betting ballot measure in the 2024 election.
Yes. In fact, this is one of the most popular horse racing events in the country, and it draws lots of bettors seeking major profits.
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