Category: Fantasy

Betting roundup /

MLB wants to have say in betting discussion; DraftKings, FanDuel abandon merger plans

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 [email protected].

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he wants his league to have a seat at the table when it comes to discussing the legal future of sports betting in the United States.

“If there’s going to be a change in the regulatory structure with respects to sports gambling, we needed to be in a position to meaningfully engage and shape, try to shape what the new regulatory scheme looks like,” commissioner Rob Manfred told the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday. “We’re in the process of talking to our owners and figuring out where we want to be in the event that there is in fact a significant change coming.”

Manfred’s comments are the first to come from one of the plaintiff sports leagues since the Supreme Court announced in late June that it would review New Jersey’s appeal of a district court ruling that prevented the state from moving forward with plans to offer legal sports betting at its casinos and racetracks.

DraftKings and FanDuel announced they will abandon their merger plans.

“We believe it is in the best interests of our customers, employees, and investors to terminate our agreement to merge with FanDuel and move forward as a separate company,” DraftKings chief executive Jason Robins said in a statement. “This will allow us to singularly focus on our mission of providing the most innovative and engaging interactive sports experience imaginable.”

The decision comes as the two companies were facing a difficult legal battle against the Federal Trade Commission, which in June sued to stop the merger. The agency argued that the combined company would be a “near monopoly,” with more than 90 percent of the US market for paid daily fantasy sports.

DraftKings and FanDuel countered that anti-trust regulators had misunderstood their business. Both companies argued that they competed more broadly with fantasy sports games that last an entire season.

But the firms, once bitter rivals, also made clear in recent days they were assessing the likelihood of prevailing over the FTC.

By abandoning a deal the companies had contended was critical to their future, DraftKings and FanDuel now return to the familiar — and costly — role of battling each other for the upper hand in the still young daily fantasy sports business.

Conor McGregor predicted that he will knockout Floyd Mayweather “inside four rounds.” A Las Vegas sportsbook created a prop bet on his claim.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook took those words to heart on Wednesday, opening odds on McGregor to win the fight in Rounds 1-4. The “yes” opened at +1000 (bet $100 to win $1,000), while the “no” was -2000 (bet $100 to win $5).

“Most people are thinking if McGregor wins, it needs to happen early,” Westgate SuperBook manager Jeff Sherman told ESPN. “We doubled the price of him winning straight up and made it reflective of the 25-1 each round prop in Rounds 1-4.”

An article published by NorthJersey.com says New Jersey’s case to legalize sports betting could have major stakes for the U.S. Constitution.

Although the stakes for New Jersey are huge, they’re even bigger for the Constitution. A loss for New Jersey would fundamentally change the relationship between the states and the federal government. One of the Constitution’s most venerable principles is federalism, which divides power between two levels of government – state and federal – to counteract each other and ensure that neither becomes so powerful that they threaten individual liberty.

To maintain that balance, the Supreme Court has held that the federal government cannot dictate that states implement particular policies; it cannot “commandeer” them, as the court put it. The Third Circuit’s decision upholding PASPA undermines that core constitutional protection by drawing a facile distinction between the federal government forcing a state to implement a policy in the first instance and forcing a state to maintain a policy that it has previously implemented, even if the state subsequently rejects the policy.

That unprecedented exception to the Supreme Court’s commandeering cases threatens to undermine a wide variety of laws. On many issues, the federal government and states work together through a practice known as cooperative federalism. This voluntary arrangement allows Congress to pursue its goals more efficiently and cheaper and, because states must be induced to participate, it gives them influence in how federal policies are set. But what state would participate if, once it initially agreed to a policy, Congress could pass a law binding it to the federal policy forever?

While the New Jersey case could bring legal sports betting to states across the country, online and mobile betting wouldn’t necessarily be quick to follow.

Here’s where we’re at in the United States in terms of online betting: Not very far.

A trio of states — New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware — have legal online poker or gambling. That’s it. (Pennsylvania appears poised to join them.) A handful of states have legal online lotteries.

Nevada — the only state where you can place single-game sports bets — also has mobile sports betting. And that has proven to be a success, as sports betting handle has increased substantially since its advent.

But in a world where states can change their laws to allow sports betting, there is not likely to be a corresponding groundswell of support for online sports gambling. To think states will instantly legalize sports betting and also allow it to happen online ignores the lack of support for online gambling around the country thus far.

 

 

 

 

 

Betting roundup /

Momentum gains on SCOTUS sports betting case; ESPN looks at fraud in future of betting

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 [email protected].

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Supporters of federal sports betting legalization efforts have been seeing some positive momentum.

“We’re on the Hill daily, in the House and the Senate, and we’ve identified people who could be champions of legislation when the time comes,” AGA CEO Geoff Freeman told reporters on Tuesday.

“There will be some unlikely allies, some unusual bedfellows on this issue,” he said. “Lawmakers who have looked at the issue in the past, and now realize we are in a different time than 1992.”

 

The Press of Atlantic City published an editorial saying that New Jersey’s odds on legalizing sports betting suddenly look pretty good.

Wallach, the sports gambling attorney, said if the top court doesn’t undo the ban, federal legislation might anyway. “There’s a 100 percent likelihood sports gambling will become legal. The question is when, or how.”

Maybe a bipartisan effort by Reps. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, and Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th, to get such a bill through the House will succeed.

But it looks more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court, in the interest of limiting federal overreach, will end the unfair favoring of a few states over the others.

 

There is a chance that the U.S. Supreme Court Case could actually backfire and Nevada could lose its right to allow sports betting.

The result of such a finding by SCOTUS would be the end of legal sports betting in Nevada. It would also end parlay betting in Delaware and limited wagering elsewhere. (While most usually refer to four states grandfathered in under PASPA — Oregon and Montana included — the Rodenberg/Holden article theorizes the number of states could actually be nine.)

Nevada, of course, has had legal sports betting for decades. PASPA has been on the books since 1992. A finding against the grandfathered states would be a huge hit to an industry that generates hundreds of millions of dollars for Nevada’s economy. That’s in addition to tax revenue for the state.

It would also mean the only path to legal wagering in the US would be to repeal PASPA via Congress. Of course, Nevada losing sports betting could accelerate such a scenario.

 

Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples suggests that the NCAA should get ready for the possibility of legalized sports betting nationwide.

The biggest question is how the schools and the NCAA would handle gambling if this came to pass. They likely wouldn’t change any of their rules against athletes, coaches and officials gambling on sports even though such activity would be legal for people 21 and older in certain states. This makes sense. It’s vital to the enterprise that the games be straight up, and having coaches, players or officials gambling on sports could cast doubt on the integrity of the games. That’s bad for business. What could be good for business are the same kind of sponsorships that the pro leagues would inevitably seek from gambling entities. But the schools and NCAA would be unwise to keep that money. Fuhrman proposed a potentially workable solution for this sticky issue. “If the NCAA is anti-gambling,” he said, “what better way is there than to work with states and put together a players pension where you’re giving back to the athletes?”

ESPN Chalk published another article in their special series on the future of sports betting focusing on fake news, manipulated data and fraud.

Earlier this year, an investigation by the Asian Football Confederation found that the Timorese football association was using falsified birth documents to assemble a team. Many of the implicated players were from Brazil, and some had doctored passports. Interpol is now involved.

Not that Franke, a central defender from SpVgg Greuther Fürth in Germany’s second division, knew any of this when his name appeared on that leaked team sheet. As became clear a few weeks later, the leak was a hoax, and Franke was simply unlucky enough to have his name included in the scam. But Franke was far from alone. Other fake social media accounts have emerged like a game of whack-a-mole, ensnaring numerous other players and teams in the region.

Was it simply a twisted catfishing prank, or was it part of something more sinister, such as a fake news campaign to perpetuate betting fraud?

“What it does indicate is the importance of data and rise of cybercrime when discussing sport corruption and fraud,” said Jake Marsh, the head of integrity operations at the sports data group Perform. “It won’t just be Wiki[pedia] being manipulated.”

It isn’t happening only on far-flung tropical islands, either. As bookmakers across the globe have discovered, data manipulation for gambling purposes is widespread. Betting fraud has even captured the attention of U.S. sports leagues and a member of Congress.

A new startup plans to use artificial intelligence to bet on sports.

It’s a familiar story, but Stratagem is adding a little something extra to sweeten the pot: artificial intelligence.

At the moment, the company uses teams of human analysts spread out around the globe to report back on the various sporting leagues it bets on. This information is combined with detailed data about the odds available from various bookmakers to give Stratagem an edge over the average punter. But, in the future, it wants computers to do the analysis for it. It already uses machine learning to analyze some of its data (working out the best time to place a bet, for example), but it’s also developing AI tools that can analyze sporting events in real time, drawing out data that will help predict which team will win.

Stratagem is using deep neural networks to achieve this task — the same technology that’s enchanted Silicon Valley’s biggest firms. It’s a good fit, since this is a tool that’s well-suited for analyzing vast pots of data. As Koukorinis points out, when analyzing sports, there’s a hell of a lot data to learn from. The company’s software is currently absorbing thousands of hours of sporting fixtures to teach it patterns of failure and success, and the end goal is to create an AI that can watch a range of a half-dozen different sporting events simultaneously on live TV, extracting insights as it does.

On Friday, DraftKings will add the WNBA to its daily fantasy sports offerings.

“It’s been on our roadmap since we launched the company,” DraftKings co-founder Matt Kalish said. “Glad we finally [added it]. I think it will do really well.”

DraftKings has had a sponsorship deal with Madison Square Garden for the past few years. It’s been the marquee name on the New York Liberty’s jersey since 2015.

Kalish said it was too early to say if the site would offer any sort of promotions with the Liberty or MSG.

 

 

 

Betting roundup /

Westgate posts lines on Golden Knights; Vegas buzzes with Mayweather-McGregor action

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 [email protected].

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The Westgate SuperBook posted some lines on the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this week.

Shortly after the NHL announced the schedule of home openers for next season Wednesday morning, the Westgate sports book posted lines on the Golden Knights’ Oct. 6 season opener at the Dallas Stars and Oct. 10 home opener against the Arizona Coyotes.

The Golden Knights are a plus-220 underdog to Dallas (minus-250) and the total is 5½ for the expansion team’s inaugural regular-season game.

The Golden Knights’ game against the Coyotes is a pick’em, with each team listed at minus-105. The total is 5½, with the under a minus-130 favorite.

Westgate sports book manager Ed Salmons made the odds based on the strength of the players available in the expansion draft and the team’s projected roster, with the expectation that Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will start in net for Las Vegas’ first major pro sports team.

The Mayweather-McGregor fight has had more early betting action in Nevada than Mayweather-Pacquiao.

 

The Las Vegas Sun compiled some celebrity predictions on the fight.

Lennox Lewis, former heavyweight boxing champion. “I can’t take it serious,” he told the Daily Star. “Mayweather is the best in his weight class, no one can touch him in boxing. … He’s just too good at boxing for McGregor and McGregor is too inexperienced at boxing. He can’t use his other styles.”

Ice Cube, actor, rapper and BIG3 co-founder. “Yeah, I know what’s going to happen. I know what’s going to happen,” Cube tells “Undisputed” co-host Shannon Sharpe. “I think Mayweather gonna put them thangs on him.”

A Legal Sports Report article claims that the professional sports leagues share some of the blame in the messy daily fantasy sports legal situation.

There were hot takes flying around the internet yesterday when the Federal Trade Commission announced it would seek to block the merger between daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban — who is never shy about giving his opinion and has spoken about DFS at length in the past — joined the fray.

Cuban pointed out one of the underlying problems of the DFS industry that led to the merger being blocked. But what Cuban missed in his analysis is that US pro sports leagues — the NBA included — are at least partially responsible for the situation that DFS finds itself in.

A Las Vegas sportsbook manager said there hasn’t been much action on “typical public teams” on regular season win total bets.

The road to redemption has already begun with the release of the 2017 win totals, but as Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook manager Jeff Sherman explains, the public isn’t yet backing its favorite teams.

“We have seen no large bets on typical public teams like the Packers, Steelers and Patriots, which is surprising and we don’t expect that to continue,” he said. “Those teams have huge fan bases and we always see support for them.”

So little action has come in on these three that not a single vig, or price you pay to take a line, of theirs has moved at all from its opening position.

 

Betting roundup /

FTC wants to stop DraftKings-FanDuel merger; Squares bets come in early on McGregor

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 [email protected].

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Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission said it will attempt to block the merger between FanDuel and DraftKings.

The regulatory body said it would file a suit, together with California and Washington, D.C., in an effort to temporarily stop the two, who own 90 percent of the daily fantasy business, from combining into what its officials believe would be an illegal monopoly.

“The proposed merger would deprive customers of the substantial benefits of direct competition between DraftKings and FanDuel,” said Tad Lipsky, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.

After the Mayweather-McGregor fight was made official last week, sportsbooks in Las Vegas took a lot of small bets on the underdog McGregor before some big money came in on Mayweather.

So, as is typical for prize fights, public bettors flocked to risk small amounts of money for the chance at a big payoff. Jason Simbal, vice president of risk at CG Technology, told Covers.com that action on McGregor increased when the fight was made official, but those bets were of the $10, $20 and $50 variety.

When the accumulation of those bets prompted CG to adjust Mayweather’s odds from -1000 to -900, big bets started coming in on the favorite, including one for $45,000. Mayweather’s odds were then pushed back up to -950.

The MGM Mirage saw a similar wagering pattern.

“When we first put it up, we wrote 68 tickets on McGregor before first Mayweather bet,” oddsmaker Jeff Stoneback said, per Covers. “But first bet on Mayweather: $90K to win $10K. These are all small bets on McGregor.”

ESPN.com reported that by Saturday, Mayweather’s odds had been shortened to -600 at some sports books. That price is certainly cheap enough for sharp bettors to pounce.

Dustin Johnson opened as a 10-to-1 favorite to win the British Open after failing to make the cut at the U.S. Open last weekend.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook on Monday opened Johnson as the 10-1 favorite. Per ESPN Stats & Information, the favorite hasn’t won this tournament since Tiger Woods did it back in 2006.

Rory McIlroy and Justin Spieth opened at 12-1, while 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia is 15-1.

Brooks Koepka, who just won the U.S. Open with a score of 16-under, has the seventh-best odds at 25-1.

Betting roundup /

SuperBook launches $5,000 NFL pick contest; Penn. House passes gambling expansion bill

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 [email protected].

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The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook will introduce a new NFL contest this fall with a $5,000 entry fee.

After a record 1,854 entries in 2016 — the seventh straight year that the number of entries has increased — the SuperContest is adding a new higher-end competition: SuperContest Gold.

The new handicapping contest will be similar to the regular SuperContest in which SuperContestants pay $1,500 to enter and make five against-the-spread picks a week on NFL games, with a few differences.

The biggest one? SuperContest Gold costs $5,000 to enter.

The others:

— No administrative fee taken out for SuperContest Gold (an 8 percent rake is taken out on the regular SuperContest).

— Winner-take-all, instead of top 50 entries cashing. No tiebreakers or aggregate bonuses.

— Only one entry per person.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved a gambling expansion bill Wednesday night.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed sprawling gambling legislation, unveiled just hours earlier, to expand casino-style gambling to the internet, airports, bars and elsewhere in a move that could shape how the state government deals with its deficit-riddled finances this summer.

The bill was marshaled by Republican majority leaders toward the floor vote, a last-ditch move to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from taxes and license fees to help prop up, if temporarily, the state’s threadbare treasury. The bill represents perhaps Pennsylvania’s biggest gambling expansion since it legalized casinos in 2004, a law that made it the nation’s No. 2 commercial casino revenue state.

It passed narrowly, 102-89, less than a year after similar legislation failed in the House. The vote capped years of unsuccessful efforts by some lawmakers to bring legal gambling to bars.

 

The bill would regulate daily fantasy sports, but would tax gross revenue at 19 percent.

DFS language is very likely to survive in the final version of the gaming bill. The question will be whether common ground can be found between the two chambers on all the other gaming matters. The VGTs represent a large gap between the House and the Senate. It’s believed the upper chamber has no interest in those provisions.

If they can’t find middle ground on VGTs and everything else, DFS legalization and regulation might not happen in Pennsylvania this year.

The Connecticut legislature passed a bill that would set up a regulatory structure in the event of the federal government legalizing sports betting.

The bill passed the state Senate later in the day — the final scheduled day of the legislative session. It must still be signed by the governor.

Meanwhile, it does not appear that there is any late movement on a bill to legalize daily fantasy sports in the state.

 

 

Betting roundup /

Fans might be able to bet at Las Vegas games; New Jersey bill would let casinos offer DFS

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 [email protected].

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Fans attending a Las Vegas Raiders home game might be able to place bets while at the stadium.

Last week, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority unanimously approved a conditional lease agreement for the Raiders. NFL owners are expected to vote on ratifying the lease at this week’s spring meetings in Chicago.

The lease includes language that prohibits “any Gaming or Gambling, the maintaining or operating of a Gaming Establishment and/or sports wagering or any wagering on racing or other non-sports events.”

However, according to the stadium authority and Nevada gaming officials, nothing in the lease blocks access to the mobile sports betting apps offered by the majority of the state’s regulated sportsbooks. Nevada books have been offering mobile sports betting for several years, allowing bettors to place wagers on their mobile devices from anywhere inside state lines.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN in an email that the Raiders “are required to abide by League rules on the matter.” McCarthy did not elaborate on which rule he was referring to, and the Raiders did not respond to a request for comment.

A New Jersey bill would allow casinos and racetracks to seek permits to offer daily fantasy sports betting.

The measure, sponsored by Democratic lawmakers, would enact a quarterly fee of 10.5 percent of gross revenues on companies that receive permits from the state Division of Consumer Affairs.

The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services estimates the bill will produce at least $6.6 million in revenue for the state each year.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester), has said the measure “ensures that people can enjoy fantasy sports without being taken advantage of” by the companies.”

The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-108 on Sunday as 17-point underdogs, which set the record for the biggest NBA playoffs upset ever.

The Cavaliers beat the Celtics by 13 (in a game that wasn’t really that close) and 44 in Boston to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

So, odds-makers did something drastic for Game 3 in Cleveland – make the Cavs 17-point favorites.

Yet, the Celtics pulled the 111-108 upset.

CG Technology released regular season win totals for about 50 college football teams last week.

Alabama is the consensus national-championship favorite in Las Vegas and opened Thursday with the highest season win total at sportsbook operator CG Technology.

The Crimson Tide’s season win total was set at 10.5 at CG Technology, which posted win totals on almost 50 teams.

Ohio State opened at 10 and is the only other team with double-digit wins. Six teams have win totals set at 9.5: Florida State, Penn State, USC, Washington, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. The Buckeyes host the Sooners in Week 2.

 

 

 

 

Betting roundup /

WNBA to partner with daily fantasy company; MGM launches sports betting app in Nevada

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 [email protected].

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The WNBA is partnering with FanDuel to offer daily fantasy sports contests for the professional women’s basketball league.

The league announced a partnership with FanDuel on Thursday — the first time a women’s professional sports league will be available in one-day fantasy games.

“We are constantly looking to innovate by finding new opportunities to engage with our passionate fans and introduce the WNBA to wider audiences,” WNBA President Lisa Borders said. “This partnership with FanDuel and our new one-day fantasy game will be a fresh, unique way for fans to further connect with their favorite WNBA players and teams throughout our season.”

FanDuel will be offering free WNBA contests in which participants can win courtside tickets and merchandise among other things. The NBA in 2014 became the first major pro league to partner with FanDuel.

The site will also have its normal offerings of daily fantasy contests in which people can win money by picking a lineup of WNBA players and pitting them against other players. The WNBA is hoping this new venture brings more fans to the league, which starts its 21st season this weekend.

MGM launched their sports betting mobile app in Nevada last week.

Like most Nevada sports books with mobile solutions, MGM allows registered playMGM users to deposit and withdraw cash at any of its 10 MGM Resorts Race & Sports Books along the Las Vegas Strip.

But with playMGM, there is also a second way to deposit and withdraw from a sports betting account. The software allows customers to sign up for a playMGM pre-paid card in the app itself. By using this feature, players can fund and withdraw money from their playMGM accounts from anywhere in the world.

This means that visitors who placed bets while in Nevada can collect on winning bets without making a return trip to Las Vegas or having to mail in winning tickets. This also saves locals from having to take a trip to the Las Vegas Strip to collect winnings.

A new study released by the American Gaming Association shows that 6 out of 10 Americans think that sports betting is legal outside of Nevada.

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research found that just 38 percent of respondents “recognize that it is not legal in most of the nation.” A 1992 federal law limits traditional sports betting to the Silver State (Delaware has limited sports betting in the form of parlays). The AGA is pushing for that antiquated law to be replaced or repealed, as there are now Las Vegas-style casinos in about 80 percent of states.

The study also found that a 55 percent majority of Americans support legalization. Only 35 percent oppose. Ten percent are undecided on the issue.

The breakdown is even better for the millennial generation, which the casino industry is trying hard to attract as the baby boomers age. Millennials support a nationwide sports betting framework by a 61-30 margin. Just 41 percent of seniors support sports betting.

As of now, the New England Patriots are favored in each of their games next season.

The Patriots are favored by an average of 6.5 points per game next season, with the largest spread 12.5 points at home against the Los Angeles Chargers. New England is only a 1.5-point favorite in Week 11 against the Oakland Raiders in Mexico City and Week 15 at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On the other end of the NFL hierarchy, the Cleveland Browns aren’t favored in any game and are only a pick-em once (Week 5 at home versus the Jets). Cleveland is an underdog of 6 points per game on average, and a touchdown-or-worse underdog in nine of 15 games.

 

 

Betting roundup /

Texans get biggest SB odds jump from draft; Classic Empire is early favorite to win Derby

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 [email protected].

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A CBS Sports article looked at how the NFL Draft affected Super Bowl odds for all 32 teams.

So who’s the biggest winner in William Hill’s post-draft odds? That would be the Houston Texans.

The Texans saw their odds drastically improve after they traded up to grab Deshaun Watson during the first round of the NFL Draft on April 27. The Texans, who opened at 40-1 to win Super Bowl LII, are now listed at 20-1.

That’s the largest jump that any team made in William Hill’s latest odds. Basically, getting rid of Brock Osweiler and adding a quarterback who’s not Brock Osweiler did wonders for the Texans’ odds. The Browns should think about doing the same thing.

Classic Empire is the early favorite for the 2017 Kentucky Derby.

The colt, who was listed at 4-1 odds at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook following the draw, will break from the No. 14 post on Saturday. Just two horses have won the Derby out of there. The last was Carry Back in 1961.

Trained by Mark Casse, Classic Empire won the Arkansas Derby and was last year’s champion 2-year-old.

“We couldn’t be in a better place right now,” Casse said.

The favorite has won the Derby in each of the past four years. It’s the longest such streak since the 1970s.

Always Dreaming and McCraken are co-second choices at 5-1.

A Card Player article shows how sports betting and poker are moving in opposite directions in Nevada.

Sports betting and poker have gone in opposite directions over the past several years in Nevada. The two gaming activities provided basically identical revenue ($168 million) for Silver State casinos in 2007, and poker was actually bigger in both 2008 and 2009.

But the end of the poker boom, exacerbated by online poker’s Black Friday in early 2011, and sports betting’s rapid growth have put the games on different paths.

These days, poker represents one percent of overall Nevada gaming revenue ($11.2 billion), while sports betting accounts for two percent. It’s just one percentage point, but it’s still a big deal.

Michael Lawton, Senior Research Analyst for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, told Card Player that poker and sports betting will likely “continue on very different trajectories for some time.”

A Bloomberg article looks at how gambling could help save professional sports from dwindling TV ratings.

Another possibility is that the NBA will consolidate with fantasy basketball and video gaming to augment their revenue. The NBA already has plans to introduce an e-sports product. More speculatively, if more states legalize sports gambling, the league could enter into a revenue-sharing agreement with casinos or bookmakers. Imagine redesigning the playoffs to maximize the number of decisive games and thus boost betting interest — that could mean more but shorter playoff series. At least the fantasy component of such a basketball conglomerate might redistribute some of the attention back to players who are not superstars. Gamblers also tend to be well-informed about the teams they bet on, so this direction could encourage a smarter NBA, better designed for the nerds and fanboys.

One sports bettor risked $50,000 to win $500 on the Golden State Warriors in their seven-game playoff series against the Utah Jazz.

On Tuesday afternoon, hours before heavily favored Golden State tipped off with Utah, the Westgate SuperBook had taken just one bet on the Warriors to beat the Jazz in the seven-game series — a $50,000 bet at -10,000 odds.

If Golden State prevails, the risk-taker will net a profit of $500. To repeat, that’s $50,000 to $500.

The Jazz were as much as 20-1 underdogs to eliminate the Warriors, the outright favorites to win NBA championship.

Floyd Mayweather posted a picture on Instagram of himself holding about $400,000 which he says he won betting on the Boston Celtics.

Floyd Mayweather is never shy about bragging about his gambling winnings. Whether it’s showing off his betting slips or parlays, Mayweather continues to live up to his “Money” nickname.

That’s why it comes as no surprise that Mayweather posted this pic of himself and his winnings from Tuesday night after the Celtics came back to beat the Wizards in overtime thanks to the show Isaiah Thomas put on.

The potential Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight has already had thousands of dollars bet on it in Las Vegas casinos.

Forty of the first 42 bets placed on the fight at the SuperBook were on McGregor, the largest a $1,500 wager at +800. Mayweather is now listed at -900, with McGregor +700.

The SuperBook has already taken more than $10,000 on the fight, which is by no means official. The book stipulates that the fight must be a boxing match and must take place by May 13, 2018, or all bets will be refunded.

“Most fights that are not official don’t garner much handle until officially becoming announced,” SuperBook assistant manager Jeff Sherman told ESPN in an email. “I’m not surprised by the McGregor support, just that it has come without an official fight announcement.”

ESPN Chalk’s David Purdum wrote an article about the potential collision between sports betting and fantasy sports.

Momentum is building to lift the federal prohibition on state-sponsored sports betting in the U.S., but it’s a complex issue that optimistically is expected to take years.

In the meantime, aggressive gaming companies are examining what products they can offer now. They are looking to bridge the gap to legalization with innovative products, designed to mimic traditional sports betting, while also complying with the newer fantasy sports laws.

The line between traditional sports betting and fantasy sports is blurring rapidly and soon may be erased altogether.

An article published by USA Today says that Las Vegas’ NFL stadium wouldn’t have been possible without the gambling industry.

The $1.9 billion project never would have made it through the state legislature – or attracted the Oakland Raiders – without the support of the gambling industry, according to experts and the legislative record.

“The industry has been instrumental in the project,” said Jeremy Aguero, an analyst who works for the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, the stadium’s landlord.

After it opens, the Raiders also might not fulfill their potential there without even more of its support, possibly forcing the league to change its longtime anti-gambling policies purely out of business necessity, experts told USA TODAY Sports. The National Hockey League is adding a team in Vegas this year and said it’s already changed one key gambling policy to reflect its new “market reality.”

The Ringer debuted a new sports betting podcast this week called “Against All Odds with Uncle Sal.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live! on-air personality and “Cousin Sal’s Sure Thing” host Sal Iacono breaks down the world of gambling across a variety of sports, including football, basketball, hockey, UFC, boxing, wrestling, and competitive hot dog eating. Each week, Sal offers up odds analysis as well as his best bets and brings on celebrities, Vegas experts, and his pack of degenerate friends, who are shameless about discussing their latest wins and losses (mostly losses).

 

 

 

 

Betting roundup /

AGA says repeal could happen before 2020; Penn. house committee approves betting bill

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 [email protected].

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American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman said he thinks proponents of the federal sports betting ban could succeed in a repeal within the first term of Donald Trump’s presidency.

“In terms of how quickly can we get PASPA repealed, I think we’re looking at getting that done during the first term of this Trump administration,” Freeman said. “Everything I’m seeing, everything we’re doing and that our allies are doing, leads me to be confident that we can get this done.”

An article published by the New York Times Magazine asks if legalized sports betting would “save us from the insufferability of fantasy sports.”

We’ve long since normalized the horror of listening to someone telling you about the tragedy that befell a fantasy team, but if that talk were instead about whether the Cowboys were going to cover the spread, wouldn’t that conversation come closer to the actual, idealized point of the game? There are hundreds of reasons that a team might win a football game by, say, 10 or more points. Each one requires you to consider offenses, defensive schemes or, at the very worst, minor details like the rumors about the quarterback’s recent trip to Cabo San Lucas or what your equipment-manager cousin told you about the impact of last night’s rain on turf conditions — and every such discussion beats talking about your fantasy squad. If Bradley wanted fans to root based on the play of their favorite team, he banned the wrong pastime.

Pennsylvania’s sports betting legalization bill was unanimously approved by the House Gaming Oversight Committee and will move on to the next vote.

“I believe our commonwealth is uniquely positioned to oversee sports betting in all its forms and should be ready to take action should the federal ban be lifted,” Matzie, D-16, Ambridge, said in a statement after the vote on Tuesday.

Casino gambling is “thriving” in Pennsylvania, Matzie said, and legal sports betting “will simply enable Pennsylvanians to participate in — and our commonwealth to regulate — a multi-million dollar industry that already exists.”

Sports betting would be allowed in Pennsylvania casinos and off-track betting sites under House Bill 519, which Matzie introduced Feb. 15. State Rep. Ryan Warner, R-Perryopolis, is a co-sponsor on the bill.

New Jersey’s senators sent a letter to the NCAA asking them to reconsider their decision to not host championship events in the state.

We are not asking that the NCAA change its prohibition on sports wagering for student-athletes, coaches, or administrators,” wrote U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat whose state allows sports betting.

“However, we are requesting that the NCAA board of directors re-evaluate its position on sports wagering and site selection for championship play.”

The letter was sent Tuesday to the NCAA board.

“College sports fans largely ignore the prohibition, and instead they bet using offshore and illegal sports books,” the senators wrote. “Far from preventing sports wagering, a prohibition on sports betting simply encourages people to wager through high-risk and unregulated means.”

New Jersey lawmakers have sought to pass legislation that gets around a 1992 federal law that banned sports betting everywhere except Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.

This March, Nevada broke its record for the amount of money bet on basketball in a single month.

A record $439.5 million was wagered on basketball, both college and professional, last month, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The books kept a record $41.2 million of the amount bet on basketball, shattering the previous mark set in March 2015 by more than $13 million and making March 2017 by far the most lucrative basketball month ever for the house.

Pinnacle published an article listing eight “must-follow” Twitter accounts for MLB bettors.

 Twitter is a powerful tool for the baseball bettor seeking top-notch information to increase their betting profits. Keep away from the noise. Here are the eight must-follow accounts for MLB bettors who are after serious winnings.

 

 

Betting roundup /

Man bets against team’s stock, then bombs its bus; Texas DFS bill may have momentum

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 [email protected].

* * *

A European man bet against a soccer team’s stock and then bombed its bus while attempting to disguise the bombing as an islamic terrorist attack.

W. had taken out a loan of “several tens of thousands of euros” days before the attack and bought a large number of so-called put options, betting on a drop in Dortmund’s share price, she said.

“A significant share price drop could have been expected if a player had been seriously injured or even killed as a result of the attack,” according to prosecutors, though Koehler said the precise profit W. might have expected was still being calculated.

Ralf Jaeger, the top security official in North Rhine-Westphalia state, said the suspect had hoped to earn millions.

“The man appears to have wanted to commit murder out of greed,” Jaeger said.

Investigators found notes at the scene claiming responsibility on behalf of Islamic extremists, which Germany’s top security official, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, said was a “particularly perfidious way to toy with people’s fears.”

As Texas prepares to wrap up its legislative session in May, daily fantasy sports appears to have the most momentum out of all proposed gambling legislation.

There’s a bill in the Legislature that says playing and profiting from fantasy sports is not the same as illegal gambling.

This comes after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last year issued a nonbinding ruling stating that online fantasy sports is exactly that — illegal betting.

But state Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, and state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, say online fantasy sports is legal because it’s a skill-based contest where sports fans pay an entry fee, create teams in the sport of their choice and then gain points for their “team’s” performance, such as yards gained in football or runs scored in baseball. Those with the highest scores can receive money on a weekly basis.

Last week, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Las Vegas would be on the list of possible expansion cities if the league were to expand.

Manfred says Major League Baseball will keep a close eye on how well the Golden Knights and Raiders fare in the city, and whether there’s an adequate fanbase to support the franchises. The Raiders will be the bigger challenge for Las Vegas, as its planned $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat stadium will require great support from locals and visitors.

An editorial published by a New Hampshire newspaper suggests the state should seek more solid data on the number of daily fantasy sports players before the state’s Senate Finance Committee approves a bill the senate passed last week.

HB 580 would allow sites like FanDuel and DraftKings to operate in New Hampshire under the eye of the Lottery Commission. They would pay five percent of their gross profits to the state, based on the number of players from New Hampshire. The tax would come from the company’s cut of each transaction, not from the total amount bet.

This tax would be credited against New Hampshire business taxes.

Since we don’t know how many fantasy players are from New Hampshire, we have no idea how much money is at stake. Senators should demand to see some real numbers before approving this fantasy bill.