Twice weekly, we’ll comb through as many articles, tweets and podcasts as we can find related to the world of sports betting and daily fantasy sports, and publish the good stuff here.
Stumble upon something you think we should include? Email info@bettingtalk.com.
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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman seems to have softened his stance on sports betting pending the league’s expansion to Las Vegas — but he does say that hockey isn’t a ideal sport to bet on.
“Gambling, for us, is probably an entirely different focus than, say, football or basketball, either at the pro or at the college level. We’re about one percent of the book. Our game doesn’t lend itself to gambling in the same way that football and basketball do,” Bettman said.
A Canadian columnist says his country’s liberal government needs to change their stance and allow a free vote to legalize single-event sports betting.
Trudeau promised in last year’s election to allow more free votes and for back bench MP’s to play a more important role in the democratic process. Sports betting should be one of those issues to demonstrate this commitment.
Trudeau and the Liberals should let their caucus vote freely to support the referral of the NDP bill to the justice committee. This will allow more debate and a proper decision – you can bet on it.
A Legal Sports Report article analyzes factors that would reduce the potential value of a legal U.S. sports betting market.
The numbers behind US sports betting revenue estimates, like the country’s deficit, are hard to grasp due to their sheer size. This is further complicated by the frequent transitions between sports betting handle, the amount wagered by sports bettors, and sports betting revenue — the amount of money sportsbooks generate from those wagers. Keep in mind that these two metrics can vary by as much as a factor of 20.
For instance, the handle for Nevada sports betting was $4.2 billion in 2015. From those wagers, the sportsbooks generated $231 million in revenue.
Confusion really sets in when these numbers are extrapolated to ascertain the size of the illegal sports betting market. Due to its underground nature, the size of the illegal sports betting market is hard to pin down, as I’ve seen estimated anywhere from $80 billion to $380 billion in handle, and revenue estimates of $1.6 billion to $11.9 billion according to GamblingCompliance.
Some U.S. representatives have come out and shared their support for lifting the federal ban on sports betting.
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, supports lifting the ban and giving the states the right to regulate and tax the bets.
Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Massachusetts, said it’s an important issue Congress should debate.
“Left unregulated, left unchecked there is the opportunity for abuse,” Lynch said. ”If it’s going to happen, I’d like to bring it into an area that can be administered in a way that minimizes the harm.”
Las Vegas sportsbook operators discussed Raiders coach Jack Del Rio’s gamble to go for two and the win late in their game Sunday against the Saints.
“He took a shot,” Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito said, “and it paid off.”
Del Rio took a risky roll of the dice, signaling for a 2-point conversion attempt with the Raiders trailing by one and 47 seconds remaining. Esposito described the result of the play as the crowd’s “biggest eruption” of the day.
“Just seeing the Raiders fans going nuts, I can’t imagine if that team moved here,” Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said.
BBC Panorama filmed an experiment to discover what goes on inside the brain of a gambling addict.