SoCal Gambler’s Guide to Big Ten Road trips
Joining the Big Ten Conference gives the fanbases of USC and UCLA an excuse to go see some lead-gray skies and feel the bliss of wet snow soaking through their hoodies.
If they’re into that type of thing.
It also affords Trojans and Bruins alumni the chance to experience the full array of sports betting and online gambling that could eventually be available in California. While the state continues to slog through the low-hanging-fruit, been-done-already legalization of sports betting that’s been completed in more than in 30 states and American jurisdictions, and is creeping toward online casinos, Big Ten country is already the future of gambling opportunity.
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Of the 11 states that house programs in the conference, 10 have legal sports betting in some form. All have retail casinos, three have online casinos (out of six states nationally) and three have online poker. That’s a power conference.
There’s two years before USC and UCLA make the planned leap, but here’s the California Casinos ranking of Big Ten gambling travel. (Oh, and save those air miles, folks).
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1. Michigan
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 26
Online casinos: Yes
Online poker: Yes
Details: Hail to the victors. Michigan would have been one of the top Big Ten travel destinations for USC and UCLA fans anyway because everyone wants to see the Big House and Ann Arbor is a gem, the quintessential college town with interesting things to eat and drink and great places to do both. Couple that with the fact that Michigan has a full slate of mobile and retail sports betting opportunities as quickly as a visitor can sign up, and this choice is easy.
2. Penn State
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 15
Online casinos: Yes
Online poker: Yes
Details: State College is a quaint and welcoming college town, but wouldn’t be ranked this high without the full raft of legal wagering options available in Pennsylvania. It’s square in the middle of the state, and nowhere close to any retail casinos, although a Bally’s mini-casino has been proposed for a dilapidated mall in town. Don’t fly for that. Visitors wouldn’t have come so far to haunt a local casino. Every gambling option is mobile, state-wide, so there will more time to take in this very un-SoCal spot. Have some Canyon Pizza as you over-estimate the alma mater.
3. Ohio State
Mobile sports betting: Yes*
Retail sports betting: Yes*
Retail casinos: 11
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: Columbus is a mid-sized city and pro sports town that still maintains its gonzo college vibe. It’s one of the coolest spots in America to take in the atmosphere and the big game, but much to the chagrin of Buckeyes faithful, it falls short of nemesis Michigan because Ohio doesn’t have online casinos or online poker. Sports betting will be live by the time the Bruins and Trojans roll through and if the travelers somehow tire of eating Thurmanators and drinking Fat Heads’ beer, Hollywood Casino Columbus would gladly welcome you.
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4. Northwestern
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 11
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: Don’t let the locals hear you say this school is in Chicago. It’ll start a long conversation you don’t want or need. Anyway, Evanston is close enough to all that Chicago sports betting offers to make it a great one-stop sports/culture/cuisine/gambling road trip. Though online casinos aren’t yet legalized, there are retail casinos in Joliet, Aurora, Elgin, and Des Plaines, and one day there should be one within the Chicago city limits. There will also be retail sportsbooks in the city’s pro sports arenas and right there on your mobile devices once you’ve finished your selfies in front of The Bean. Locale bumps the Wildcats up the list despite the lack of online poker and online casinos. Points off for having to make any bets on in-state teams at a retail sportsbook, but you will be able to find one.
5. Michigan State
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 26
Online casinos: Yes
Online poker: Yes
Details: Locale slides Sparty down the list as East Lansing is a perfectly fine college town, but isn’t anything special. All those gambling options puff its resume, though. P.S. We’re very much looking forward to the Trojans v. Spartans, Illiad II: It’s Personal.
6. Illinois
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 11
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: Visitors often incorrectly envision Illinois as Chicago from the shores of Lake Michigan to the Ohio River. This is an incorrect characterization and Champaign-Urbana quickly corrects the notion. Perched in the center of the state, it’s a quaint mid-sized college town full of culture and plenty of things to occupy you before the Bruins or Trojans destroy the Illini. There’s no casinos close, but Illinois legislators may hammer out online casinos before USC and UCLA appear on a Big Ten schedule. It would also be nice to be able to bet on the game via your phone. Maybe one day.
7. Rutgers
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 9
Online casinos: Yes
Online poker: Yes
Details: Granted, Californians can enjoy most of the forms of gambling available in New Jersey with a much quicker trip to Las Vegas. But crossing the furthest-possible Big Ten road trip off the bucket list has its own rewards in addition to the chance to play poker and casino games online. Go see a game at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, take in New York City for a couple of days, then scoot down to Atlantic City to make the very long plane ride worthwhile. (Besides definitely winning the game.) Saltwater taffy, funnel cakes, ‘Meet me tonight in Atlantic City,’ the whole other-ocean vibe. Major points off, however, for New Jersey law preventing wagering on in-state college sports teams.
8. Iowa
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 23
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: Iowa City is another study in shattering expectations. It’s not all corn stalks, but rent a car and you can find some outside of town pretty quickly. There are plenty of casinos out in Iowa, too, including one in nearby Riverside. (Not that Riverside.) The home of the Hawkeyes is another spot that would rate higher, for the purposes of this list, with just a few more gambling options.
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9. Indiana
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 13
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: Come for the throwback college chill and those incredible striped warm-up pants the Hoosiers basketball team wears. Horseshoe Indianapolis is 58 miles away in Shelbyville with table games, slots, and thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. As for sports bets, the mobile option is always there. Don’t offend anyone when they offer a pork loin sandwich.
10. Maryland
Mobile sports betting: No*
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 6
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: College Park sounds like an idyllic liberal arts town when it’s actually an unappealing exit off the DC Beltway. If you’re coming to one of the farthest-afield outposts of the Big Ten, it’s not for hanging out in this town, as the nation’s capital is easily accessible with a fine Metro system. Maryland should have launched online sports betting by time it matters to USC or UCLA and DC already has it. There’s a visit-worthy casino — the MGM National Harbor — in Oxon Hill.
11. Nebraska
Mobile sports betting: No
Retail sports betting: No*
Retail casinos: 5
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: Lincoln has its advantages for Bruins and Trojans fans. There’s a vast amount of red, if they need more red in their lives. It’s the closest of the junkets, a mere dabble into Big Ten country at 1,501 miles. Midwesterners will drive that for keno. But for the purposes of gambling, it’s a pretty dry gulch. Nebraska legalized a limited sports betting menu in 2021 but it may not be implemented by 2024 because it’s so simple … yet so complex. In-person betting would only be allowed a certain racinos, including WarHorse Casino Lincoln. Always bet on (Go Big) red.
12. Minnesota
Mobile sports betting: No
Retail sports betting: No
Retail casinos: 40
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: Minneapolis is one of the more culture-rich stops on the Big Ten circuit, but you betcha you gotta work hard to bet on stuff legally. If you’re looking for some oddities, though, a Gopher jaunt could introduce you to the potentially life-changing experiences of pull tabs, bar bingo, or meat raffles. Yes, that’s a thing. For the more conventional casino experience, Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and Little Six are on the edge of town, as is the Running Aces Casino, Hotel & Racetrack. It offers a limited harness racing schedule and a card room, but with thoroughbred racing and poker available in California, this might only be worthwhile as a novelty.
13. Purdue
Mobile sports betting: Yes
Retail sports betting: Yes
Retail casinos: 13
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: West Lafayette is in a casino desert — 90 miles to Gary, 80 to Anderson — and doesn’t tick the needle in this conference full of party powerhouses. Purdue is the Big Ten trip you can cross off the list first. If you want to see a Boilermaker, stay home and go drink Stagg Jr. and Surly Brewing Darkness Imperial Stout. (You’re welcome.)
14. Wisconsin
Mobile sports betting: Yes*
Retail sports betting: Yes*
Retail casinos: 24
Online casinos: No
Online poker: No
Details: Dammit, Madison. It didn’t have to be this way. You’re easily the coolest campus in all of the Big Ten, if not the nation. The farmer’s market. The orange leaves and the lakeside in the fall. So much beer. A lot of it really good. And the cheese curds. Some of it good after all that good beer. TV networks eschewed air it could sell to insurance companies just to watch you Jump Around (until House of Pain got litigious). Travel writers make lists like these to make you No. 1. But not this one. Retail and mobile sports betting is currently legal only in one tribal sportsbook in Green Bay. And betting on in-state college teams is not allowed, anyway. There’s Ho-Chunk Gaming Casino in Madison. It’s even Badger red. But that only makes us sadder. You do have pull tabs, though. But seriously. Dammit, Madison.
