Ohio Sports Betting: How to Start Betting Online in Ohio — An Easy, 4-Step Guide
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images. Pictured: Evan Mobley.
Ohio sports betting is officially live!
Ohio sports betting launched at 12 a.m. ET on Sunday, as many online and retail sportsbooks opened their doors to bettors to kick off the New Year.
So how do you get started betting online in Ohio? Here's a simple four-step guide.
How to Bet Online in Ohio
Step 1: Choose a Sportsbook
Ohio has already approved 22 sportsbook operators for licenses, with the major online sportsbooks set to be live in Ohio either right at launch or shortly thereafter.
Eventually, you'll want multiple sports betting accounts so you can shop for the best lines, but for now, let’s just use FanDuel, especially since that allows us to use Action Network's exclusive QuickSlip to instantly place our future bets.
Step 2: Sign Up
Create a new account at FanDuel by following the prompts. You might need to provide proof of identity, like a driver’s license and social security number, to verify you are of legal age and so you can't create multiple accounts using fake names.
You may already have an account at FanDuel if you've played DFS before. If so, log in.
Pro Tip: If you're in another nearby state and try to sign up in Ohio, use all your real information. Don't use a friend's address, or an old address. It's perfectly legal to sign up to bet in Ohio while you're inside state lines, even if you don't live there.
Step 3: Deposit Money Online, Not in Person
Ohio has made things easy on sports bettors by allowing online sign ups and registrations. (Some states make you sign up in-person before betting online.)
You can deposit at FanDuel with the following:
- Credit card
- Bank account
- PayPal
- Wire transfer
- And more…
Here’s what the deposit screen will look like at FanDuel.
Legal sportsbooks make you pay up front by depositing a certain amount of money (that you choose) which will operate as your bankroll (or available funds to bet). If you've previously bet offshore, you'll be happy to know that it's easy to use a credit card or bank account to deposit money.
Cashing out is also easy — FanDuel will wire money right to your bank account at any time, in this example. We’ve seen withdrawals come through in fewer than 24 hours in some instances. If you’ve been betting offshore, that’s a welcome change.
Step 4: Place Your First Bet
With the Bengals playing in a massive game on Monday Night Football just a day after sports betting launches in Ohio, let's use a Bengals example for the final steps.
Once you're at FanDuel Sportsbook, either on desktop or through the mobile app, all you have to do to bet is simply click on a line you like, and it will be highlighted.
Once it's highlighted, the bet will populate your bet slip, where you'll select how much you want to bet from your available funds that you deposited earlier. That bet slip will be on the right side of your screen on desktop, and in the middle of the bottom menu on your phone.
With that, you're ready to get started sports betting in Ohio! If you have questions about what some of these terms mean, check out our beginner's sports betting guide. And as always, we encourage any and all bettors or potential bettors to gamble responsibly.
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