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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Deadspin published an article that recapped how the 2016 NFL season went for local bookies.
“Terrible, just terrible,” he said while describing the season.
According to the middleman, 2016 was one of his worst years in recent memory.
“Favorites and overs, favorites and overs,” he said, describing the bets that wreaked havoc on his bottom line. “Patriots and Atlanta. The Steelers. The typical teams will kill you.”
When pressed to explain the losses, he blamed the Vegas sportsbooks.
“Vegas kept putting out the wrong numbers,” he said. “They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.”
The American Gaming Association said they feel meaningful progress toward legal sports betting nationwide will be made in the next two to four years.
They speculate that the repeal of PASPA – the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act which limits sports-betting to Nevada and Delaware – is the likeliest route to future liberalisation, opening up potential intra-state markets.
“Repealing PASPA is generally viewed as having a much greater likelihood to pass Congress, which would keep sports betting intra-state,” the analysts state. “As we have learned from the roll-out of online gambling in the US (which has a real threat of being abolished, without grandfathering of existing states), state by state growth limits the scale of the opportunity.”
Pennsylvania joins a growing list of states that have introduced legislation to regulate sports betting.
Matzie’s House Bill 519 would make sports betting licenses available to slots license holders, which could offer it in casinos and off-track betting sites.
Casino operators wishing to offer sports betting would have to pay a $5 million fee for a license that would be good for three years. Renewing the license would cost $250,000 under Matzie’s bill.
There would be a 16 percent gross revenue tax, which would be directed into the state’s general fund, and a 2 percent local share tax with 25 percent of that money going to both the host county and municipality and 50 percent to the host facility.
Also, at least $2 million a year would be earmarked for the Compulsive and Problem Gaming Treatment Fund.
The Westgate SuperBook lists Tiger Woods at 20-to-1 odds to win a major in 2017.
He was 10-1 before that withdrawal, but Jeff Sherman, assistant manager at the Westgate SuperBook, bumped up his odds due to the new health concerns and his withdrawals from the next two tournaments.
“His odds are always short of what they should be because of the name Tiger Woods,” Sherman told ESPN. “He will always command betting support no matter how well or poorly he is playing.”
Former MLB player Pete Rose is maintaining his stance on sports betting.
The Major League Baseball hit king and current Fox Sports 1 analyst made an appearance on the season 3 premiere of Joe Buck’s talk show “Undeniable,” which airs on the AT&T Audience Sports Network. During the interview, Rose offered some particularly strong words for those who criticize his continued legal gambling on sports by stating the following.
“Who cares if I want to make a legal bet and go home and watch it? Who am I hurting? I’m not hurting anybody, I’m living my life.”
Tennis player Genie Bouchard followed through on her Super Bowl date bet made with a fan on Twitter.
Tennis star Genie Bouchard lost a Super Bowl bet due to overconfidence that the Atlanta Falcons would finish off the New England Patriots. On Wednesday night, she made good on that bet by taking the Patriots fan to a Nets game on Tuesday night at the Barclays Center.