SugarHouse PA Review: In-Depth Report On SugarHouse PA Released September 2021

PlaySugarHouse is a well-known online sportsbook and casino already operating in New Jersey. Recently it expanded its offering to players connecting from Pennsylvania, operating under the name PlaySugarHouse PA. The outfit now has a PA state licence to offer players table games, poker and slots, and another licence to permit sports betting. It is the first legal mobile betting app in the state.

In this review, we will take a deep dive into the new PlaySugarHouse PA online casino, what it offers, and whether it is any good. By the end of this review, you should be in a much better position to figure out whether this is a betting site that might interest you.

The History Of SugarHouse PA

SugarHouse NJ opened for business at the end of 2016 as a partnership between Golden Nugget Casino based in Atlantic City, and Rush Street Interactive. The app got its name from a brick-and-mortar casino operated by Rush Street Interactive already operating in the state. 

In 2018, SugarHouse launched its Online Sportsbooks for Android and iOS, allowing players to place bets for the first time on sporting events from their smartphones. It was the third mobile sportsbook available in New Jersey after getting official permission to operate from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. 
A few weeks later, SugarHouse Sportsbook cut ties with Golden Nugget because of the latter’s restrictions on NBA betting. However, the two brands continue to operate the online SugarHouse casino jointly. 
SugarHouse PA first emerged in 2019 as the very first legal betting app operating in PA after receiving the go-ahead from The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The app went through a period of testing in late May 2019 before full launch on May 31. The SugarHouse PA app is now available on both iPhone and Android devices. 

Is SugarHouse PA Any Different From SugarHouse NJ?

Broadly speaking, SugarHouse PA offers much the same experience as SugarHouse NJ, but with some small changes to comply with local state law.
 

Pennsylvania’s sports betting laws are similar to those passed in New Jersey in recent years. The key difference relates to college sports betting rules. New Jersey legislation forbids placing wagers on college games that take place within the state or on local college teams. In Pennsylvania, there are no such restrictions, so players actually have more freedom on the new app. 
SugarHouse PA offers “in-play” wagering that allows players to place bets on games in real-time, as they happen, just like SugarHouse NJ. The app’s odds service is provided by Kambi, a company that crunches the numbers and ensures that the payouts players receive are fair. 

Is It Easy To Sign Up And Get Started With SugarHouse PA? 

Signing up for SugarHouse PA

is much the same as signing up for its NJ counterpart. You first need to create an account. 
To do this, first click on the “Join Now” button at the top of the app. The app will forward you to a new screen where you will need to insert your email address and password. You may also see additional options for entering a promo code. Codes give you free spins, free cash bonuses or a combination of both. You can also select an option to sign up for a Rush Rewards account.
For those who already have a Casino4Fun account, you can sign up using that instead of creating a brand new account. Players who have a SugarHouse NJ account can also sign up using their existing information for an expedited process. 
Once you provide your email address and password, you’ll then go to the next page asking for more details. You’ll need to provide your first and last name, ZIP code, city, state, street address and date of birth. You’ll also need to submit your gender: male or female. 
The final step is to provide additional security questions, enter a screen name and your mobile phone number. You’ll need to enter the answers to your security questions, ensuring that you type them in such a way that you can remember at a later date. Lastly, you will need to type in the last four digits of your social security number.
Given this long process, signing up for SugarHouse PA is not easy. Not only do you have to go through multiple steps, but you also have to provide sensitive personal information - particularly your social security number. 
According to PA law, you must be over the age of 21 to play on any casino or betting site. You also need to make sure that nobody else has access to your account who is under the age of 21. 

What Bonuses Does SugarHouse PA Offer? 

Like many other online apps and casinos, SugarHouse PA offers players enticing bonuses to encourage them to sign up. However, they tend to be more generous than those available elsewhere. 

250 Match

For instance, SugarHouse PA offers first deposit bonuses of 100% up to a maximum of $250. This means that if you deposit $250 when you open your account, SugarHouse PA will provide you with an additional $250 token that you can use to place bets. In line with other betting apps and sites, you will not receive the stake back if you make any winnings. However, most other operators provide bonuses up to a maximum of $100, making SugarHouse PA somewhat generous. 

Once you deposit the money in your account, the bonus will become available within 24 hours. You must then use it within the allotted time period - usually within 30 days of signing up. If you don’t use it within this time, SugarHouse will void any remaining bonus balance. 
SugarHouse PA offers more generous wagering requirements than other apps. Players need only place a 1x wager (instead of the far less likely 10x wagers required by other providers). 

Refer A Friend

You can also receive bonuses if you refer a friend. If somebody with your promo code wagers $50, then SugarHouse PA will give you a chance to win anywhere from $20 all the way up to $500. To decide how much you’ll win, you’ll need to scratch a lottery card. 

You can also win additional prizes and rewards by following SugarHouse on social media and providing a link on your profile. Benefits include things like deposit bonuses and free bingo spin games. 

Is SugarHouse PA’s Loyalty Program Any Good?

To keep players interested, SugarHouse PA offers a loyalty program called iRush Rewards (a name derived from parent company Rush Street Interactive). In the past, iRush Rewards had some issues. However, PlaySugarHouse resolved them in 2018 in response to community criticism. 

First, iRushy Rewards Loyalty Level no longer resets every month. Therefore, players can carry their existing loyalty level over to the following month - something we explain this in more detail below. 
Second, SugarHouse also overhauled bonus options, introducing the Bonus Store and Bonus Store Points. The purpose of the Bonus Store is to give players more choice over the rewards they receive. It allows them to specify both how and when they receive rewards instead of having to accept a fixed bonus. SugarHouse bases the new reward model on its Bonus Bank that allows players to flexibly manage how they use their bonus money. 
Lastly, SugarHouse raised the benefits available to players to redeem within a month. Previously, the maximum redeemable wheel spins was 20,000 in a month. However, following improvements to the reward program, players can access up to 30,000 free spins within a 30-day period via Bonus Store Points. 
Unfortunately, Loyalty Level still isn’t cumulative, so you can’t continue building month to month. Instead, SugarHouse PA operates it based on players’ monthly 30-day wagering volume. Thus, the level reflects bets made over the prior 60 days. In other words, if you don’t use your account, or your wagering volume falls, so too will your Loyalty Level (regardless of how much money you’ve wagered on the platform in the past). 

Bonus Points

The way SugarHouse delivers bonus points is a little confusing for new players. There are actually two separate currencies you will need to track: Loyalty Level Points and Bonus Store Points. 

SugarHouse uses Loyalty Level Points to determine your iRush Reward Loyalty status. It uses Bonus Store Points as the currency for rewards in the Bonus Store. 
Both Loyalty Level and Bonus Store points accumulate at the same rate. So if you receive 10 Loyalty Level Points, you will receive an equal quantity of Bonus Store points.
Loyalty Points work on the rolling 30-day basis described above: the more you wager, the more you get. All points you earn are yours for 30 days after you acquire them. Then, after day 30, they begin to trail off, before going to zero after 60 days. 
Bonus Store Points work differently. While they accumulate at the same rate as Loyalty Points, they remain in your account for a year. They do not begin to drop off after 30 days. That means that you can continue accumulating them for up to twelve months without spending them. 
The subtle differences here are a little confusing, so before you sign up for SugarHouse PA, you’ll want to read all the brand’s help pages to get up to speed. Knowing how the bonus rewards systems work will prevent disappointment in the future if you decide to use the app. 

What Can You Buy In The iRush Bonus Store? 

Does SugarHouse PA Offer A Good Player Experience? 

Ultimately, what players care about most - besides bonuses - is whether online casino and sports betting apps provide a good experience. In this next section, we discuss some of the gaming options that SugarHouse offers and what makes them good, bad or ugly. 

Sports Betting

Just like its NJ counterpart, SugarHouse PA offers comprehensive sports betting, allowing you to bet on pretty much whatever sports or fixtures that you like. You can bet on baseball, football, hockey, boxing/fighting, tennis, soccer and more. 

Placing a bet is easy. You simply select the sport you’d like to wager on in the left side menu. If you want to see live updates, you can touch the “Live Right Now” button. 
Placing a bet follows the same procedure as similar apps available in other states outside PA. First, you find the event and outcome you want to bet on. Then you click the button displaying your odds and chosen outcome to add it to your betting slip. The slip then appears on your screen, showing you all your current bets. You then choose how much money you would like to wager on each bet. Once you pick an amount, you then click a button to place your bet. SugarHouse limits players to 12 concurrent bets at any given time. 
Betting options are excellent on SugarHouse PA. You can place single bets, where you make an individual bet on one game, and combination bets that link two or more outcomes. There is also a Round Robin option for more advanced players. 

In-Game Live Betting

SugarHouse PA allows you to bet on game outcomes both

before they begin and during play. In-game live betting allows you to place bets based on your judgement of the performance of teams on the day. 
In-game live betting differs slightly from regular betting options on the platform. With live betting, SugarHouse continually updates the odds, based on events that occur in the game. Thus, you will notice that betting odds fluctuate continuously.
Unfortunately, due to processing constraints, there is sometimes a slight delay in placing your bet. That means that, with SugarHouse, you might not be able to place bets based on the very latest game information. 

Buy Out

SugarHouse PA offers an innovative “buy out” feature. This lets you close your active positions before the betting outcome is confirmed. This is great for players who face favorable odds but don’t believe that they will ultimately win. It means that you can backtrack on bets and cash out at any time during live play. 

Buy out is an available feature on parlay bets, future, live and pre-game. Please note that you may not receive all of your original wager back, depending on game events. For instance, if you bet on a soccer match that team A will win and they go down 0-1 in the first half to team B, you will receive less than your original wager back. However, if you bet on that team winning, you will receive more of your original wager. 

Jackpot Parlay Feature

SugarHouse’s Jackpot Parlay Feature is a large prize that works in conjunction with parlay betting. To access it, players must first go to the sports betting area of the app or site. They must then select a combination of 8 randomly-selected bet options and click “place bets.” Players win if they succeed in each of their randomly-selected bets. The total jackpot amount is displayed at the top of the screen (it is often six figures or more). 

While random betting is the default, SugarHouse gives players some control over the bets that they create. For instance, you can bet on specific sports and choose the settling period. You can also select the amount that you want to bet. The more you bet, the larger the potential winnings.
Naturally, the odds of winning the jackpot are incredibly low. But to SugarHouse’s credit, it does automatically post the odds alongside any potential payout. Once you are happy with your selection, you can click “Place Bet.” Then it is just a matter of waiting to see whether you’ve won. 

Teaser+ Bets

Teaser+ Bets are another great feature. These are available for NFL and NBA games. 

First you need to place a parlay bet (up to a maximum of 8) on either Point Spread or Total Points and then click the parlay option. 
Once you do that, SugarHouse will display the Teaser+ option. Clicking this lets you actively add 6, 6.5 or 7 points to your bets and place additional wagers. 
Teaser+ Bets probably won’t interest all players, but it helps to keep games interesting and allows you to update your strategy if you think it will work better. 

Are SugarHouse PA’s Casino Games Any Good? 

SugarHouse’s casino portfolio is enormous. The app offers more than 300 games and continually updates its collection, bringing them into line with modern graphical and player experience standards.

In the past SugarHouse used NetEnd as their primary gaming provider. However, following a surge of demand, SugarHouse PA also uses game providers such as IGT and Everl Games. 
So which games are available? And are they any good? 

Online Poker

Regular online poker is available on SugarHouse after the casino obtained a $2 million license from the state. The parent company is now attempting to expand the offering to other states based on initial success in PA. 

Video poker is available too. Users get access to a vast array of options. Including jack, Deuces Wild, Five-Play and Tripple Play. Games are available on all platforms and there are also instant-play versions for players who want to experience the action immediately. 
In general, SugarHouse PA’s poker options are excellent, even though the company is still very much in the early stages of developing its offering. The fact that games are available on iOS and Android is a real bonus that many mobile players will appreciate. 

BlackJack And Table Games

Unlike many other providers, SugarHouse actually provides two versions of BlackJack - one developed by IGT and then another by NetEnt. Hence, as a player, you have a choice over which type of table you’d like to play, negating the need to join other platforms. 

Players can also enjoy a range of additional table games, including Three Card Poker, Let It Ride and others. SugarHouse has invested heavily in partnering with developers to bring multiple types of table games to its online casino - some common, others less so. It’s actually a fun activity in itself to explore all the games, partly because there are so many of them. 

Roulette

Roulette is a classic casino game and, as you might imagine, SugarHouse PA makes many versions of this game available in digital format. Popular types of roulette on the site include IGT roulette, French roulette, European roulette, and American roulette. Again, the betting app delivers games from multiple developers. IGT offers one title, while NetEnt is responsible for the other three.

The differences between these games go beyond mere graphics. Each title offers slightly adjusted gameplay which helps to make the experience as a player more exciting. It is a shame that more online casinos don’t adopt this multi-developer approach.

Virtual Games

For those of you who don’t know, this gaming model allows you to bet on the outcome of virtual sporting competitions. Players, for instance, place bets on what they think will happen during the course of the event and then a random number generator generates the play (and the outcomes). It’s very much like a digital 3D version of conventional casinos, but is also fun to watch. What’s more, it’s a great substitute for traditional sports betting. If teams aren’t playing right now but you still want to bet, you can hop on over to SugarHouse PA’s virtual games for a similar thrill. 

Unlike many other providers, SugarHouse PA has invested heavily in providing players with a quality gaming experience. The graphics are surprisingly responsive, sound coordinates well with the action on screen, and mobile feeds are smooth. 
The reason for this is the fact that SugarHouse has invested in and developed its own software - Rush Street Interactive. This team allows it to integrate games with its core services in a way that other online casinos simply can’t. It still works with game makers, such as Nextgen, Konami, and so on, but titles don’t feel shoe-horned into the app. Instead, they work beautifully as purpose-built entities. 

Live Dealers

SugarHouse knows that players love the old-fashioned experience of live dealers. So while most players will opt for digitized and automated gameplay, some will prefer to return to the nostalgia of the old way of doing things. 

SugarHouse offers players a variety of live dealer options with dealers facilitating bets from live studios based in Atlantic City. Available games include Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Ultimate Texas or Hold’em. 

Slots

Critically, SugarHouse doesn’t just reskin the same game over and over. It offers different forms of slots that offer differing reward levels. For instance, the Casino offers titles that can double your winnings or offer ever-increasing jackpots the more you play. 

Is It Easy To Make Deposits In SugarHouse PA? 

The whole purpose of online casino and sports betting apps is to allow you to wager your money. However, you can only do that if they provide easy-to-use banking options. 

In this respect, SugarHouse does well. It makes it relatively easy to deposit and withdraw money as you see fit. However, there can sometimes be transaction delays and, as discussed above, you may have to wait for first-time deposit bonuses to appear. 

Deposit Options

SugarHouse PA offers a broad range of deposit options in-line with other vendors. 

The most popular is online banking. Here you log into your bank account, set up SugarHouse as a payee and then simply deposit money using the usual method. 
You can also use e-wallets such as Paypal. PayPal is a well-known e-wallet and widely accepted by casinos worldwide. However, please note that if you deposit using this method, you may not qualify for bonuses and benefits. 
Within the app, you can also choose to pay by credit or debit card. SugarHouse accepts clearing by both MasterCard and Visa. (However, you may have to check that your provider allows you to transfer money into gambling accounts. Some do not.)
You can also use wire transfers if you want to send a large sum of money to your accounts. And, finally, there is an option to use SugarHouse Play+ which is a prepaid card that the brand sends to your home you can use for your gambling expenses. SugarHouse brands this as an option for people who want to better control their gambling spending. 

Withdrawal Options

SugarHouse PA offers a massive array of withdrawal options - more than deposit options. What’s more, virtually

all withdrawal methods are free (meaning that you don’t have to pay any transaction fees to get access to your winnings). 
However, SugarHouse does place minimum and maximum withdrawal limits. The minimum withdrawal amount is $10 and this is consistent across all methods. The maximum varies depending on the withdrawal method you want to use. 
For PayPal, the limit is $1000. For bank transfer, it is $500. For Neteller, it is $2,500. For wire transfer, it is $50,000. And for debit cards, it’s $1,000. 
If you plan on wagering small amounts, you should be fine withdrawing using any facility. However, if you bet large amounts or make substantial winnings, then you may struggle to withdraw all your funds in one go. For jackpot winners, this may be particularly problematic. 

Is SugarHouse PA Support Any Good?

How does support rank against other options? Again, it does well here, offering multiple channels players can use to get help. It also offers 24/7 support which is another great perk for players in different time zones or those who love to play at night. 

Live chat is the most popular communication channel. Players can access this by hitting the pop-up chat icon in the bottom corner of the screen. After clicking on it, it will place you in a queue to speak to an agent. Queue times are usually short off-peak, but you may have to wait during popular times. 
You can also contact the company via telephone or send an email to support@sugarhouse.com. The company tries to respond to all queries rapidly. 
There is also an option to contact reps via social media. SugarHouse knows that most players enjoy this form of communication, so it is increasing support in this area. 

Verdict

So, is SugarHouse PA an online casino and sports betting app worth your time? Well, that depends on your priorities. There is no doubt that it offers fantastic games. However, there are some drawbacks. 

For instance, deposit bonuses only benefit players who deposit under $250. Thus, if you’re making large wire transfers, there isn’t much incentive to use the operator. 
What’s more, even though the software is good, the app has a tendency to crash - particularly on desktop. So if you connect via a regular PC, you may find it frustrating to use. 
Furthermore, you can’t connect to the app anywhere in the world. By law, the gaming experience is limited to North America. If you try to access it from the UK, you will simply get an error message. What’s more, there doesn’t seem to be a way to circumvent this using proxy servers. 
With that said, there is a lot to like. There are loads of games to choose from, a great bonus reward scheme and low wagering requirements. There’s also plenty of support available at all times for players who need it.