Kansas Sports Betting + KS Online Sports Betting

As sports betting outlets pop up around the country, people in Kansas may wonder when they can start to wager with legal sports betting. They are not yet able to legally bet on sports, but it looks like sports betting will be legal in the near future in Kansas. The outlook for Kansas sports wagering is cautiously optimistic as there has been some recent movement, but they are struggling with the details of getting online sports betting legal. Here are the five most important things you need to know about Kansas sports betting and KS online sports betting apps.

1) Is Kansas Sports Betting Legal?

At this time, there are no laws in Kansas that make betting on sports legal. Citizens of Kansas are able to wager in tribal casinos, slot machines, bingo halls, state lotteries and they also have horse race wagering and poker in casinos. They essentially have everything legal from a gaming prospective besides sports betting.

2) What Bills are Currently Before the State Legislature?

The Kansas Senate was supportive of a more industry-friendly option in 2020 and passed a bill that would allow sports betting at the four casinos owned by the state. A bill hearing at the House received universal support from the casinos but caught opposition from the horse tracks, the greyhound tracks and non-operating racetracks.

There big differences between the Senate and House bill was trying to allow sports wagering at up to 1,200 lottery retailers. It was going to be tough to smooth out the differences, but any chance to finish the KS sports betting legislature were upended by the coronavirus cutting the session three weeks short.

3) What are the Next Steps for Kansas Sports Betting?

We can expect legal sports betting in Kansas in the near future. They are already allowing contests on FanDuel and DraftKings, which seems like the first step for a lot of the states to get legalize sports betting. There has been a ton of progress in recent years with Kansas sports betting, and they are looking at Iowa (which legalized sports betting in 2019) as a model for what it could mean from a financial perspective. If you’re looking to sports bet in Kansas, you should feel good about being able to do so very soon.

4) What are the Most Popular Teams to Bet on in KS?

Though no franchises in the four major professional sports that call Kansas home, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a population that is as crazed about sports as states that have multiple pro teams. Let the “Rock chalk, Jayhawk” chant at one of the Unversity of Kansas basketball games be all you need to know about the intensity that lives in Kansas sports fans.

The NFL is the most bet-upon sports league in the US, and most Kansas natives support the like-named Kansas City Chiefs. Even before their Super Bowl run in 2020, all Chiefs games were televised throughout the entire state. Many Kansans on the western side of the state support the Denver Broncos, and, as always, the Dallas Cowboys are also a popular pick.

Basketball seems to be one of the most popular sports to bet on for the midwest. Since there is no Kansas team, the majority of people lean toward the Oklahoma City Thunder.

5) Is There Anything Else to Know About Kansas Sports Betting?

About a month after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in early 2020, the Kansas state senate approved a sports betting bill. The bill would allow four state-owned casinos to offer online sports betting. The Senate is not so much concerned about the amount of money they will pull in from online sports betting, but instead they want to deter citizens from going to black-market sites to sports bet. Some of the opposers of the bill believe that legalization of sports betting in Kansas would not be profitable, and thus, there is no reason to allow it.

What are the Most Common Types of Bets I Can Make in Kansas?

Straight bet

This is the most common bet type and it is just a straight up single bet on a game. A point spread is determined by the oddsmakers with one team being favored by a certain amount of points. Let’s take a look at an example line below to give a clear indication of what a straight bet would be:

Boston Celtics -6.5 (-110), moneyline -320

at Cleveland Cavaliers +6.5 (-110), moneyline +260

O/U 206

The Celtics are favored by 6.5 points in this example. This means that if you bet the Cavaliers, you are getting 6.5 points, so if the Cavaliers win the game, or lose by fewer than seven points, you will win the bet because of your 6.5-point cushion. On the other side, when you are laying 6.5 points as the favorite, you would need the Celtics to win by seven or more to win the bet.

Final Score: Celtics 102 Cavaliers 98. Cavaliers would cover even though the Celtics won the game because the +6.5 point spread is enough to cover a four-point defeat.

Moneyline Bet

The moneyline is a bet where there is no spread; you are just picking the winner of the game. In the example above, the Cavaliers ML is +260, which means that for every $100 wagered, you win $260 if the Cavaliers win the game outright. They receive the plus side of the moneyline since they are the underdog and picking them rewards you with nice odds since they are projected to likely lose the game. On the flip side, if you bet the Celtics ML at -320, you have to bet $320 to win $100. They are the favorites so if you decide to bet the moneyline instead of the point spread, you are forced to bet additional money to win $100.

In the example above, the Celtics ML would be the winner as they won the game outright. The spread is irrelevant for a moneyline wager.

Over/Under

This is a straight bet wagering on how many total combined points will be scored in a game by both teams. For example, an NBA game may have an over/under of 210 points, which means that the oddsmakers are projecting a combined points total of 210 between the two teams. If you think the teams are going to score more than 210 points total, you bet the over, and conversely, if you think it’s going to be a defensive struggle, you can bet the under hoping that the total points scored equals 209 points or less.

Parlay

A parlay is a bet where you combine multiple bets into one bet and you get increased odds because you only win your parlay wager if all of your bets win. If you do a three-team parlay, you select three different teams from three different games and if you win all three of the bets you hit your parlay for longshot odds (6-1 so $100 to win $600). Going 0/3, 1/3, or 2/3 is all the same and you lose the parlay bet. It’s all or nothing which makes them tough to hit and is more of a home run type bet than a regular straight bet since there’s a chance for a big payoff.

Kansas Sports Betting FAQs