Every week, Gamble On listeners hear Poker Hall of Famer Phil Hellmuth’s voice utter the words, “Gamble on, fellas, gamble on,” and they know it’s time for another audio infusion of gambling news, views, interviews, and bankroll blues.
Here’s a taste of what Episode 270 of the leading industry podcast from our friends at US Bets, hosted by Eric Raskin and Jeff Edelstein, had to offer …
‘Everybody’s trying to reinvent the wheel’ j49l
Interview guest Steve Ruddock, a veteran gambling journalist and the author of the sports betting has been regulated post-PASPA:
“I would have thought that people would have seen the success stories and followed in those footsteps. But instead, what we have is everybody pretty much trying to reinvent the wheel.”
So which states, specifically, are doing sports betting right, and which aren’t?
“Any state that you don’t hear about ever, it’s probably on the right path. Your Indianas, your Iowas. New Jersey is a state you really don’t hear too much about. … The states that have gone completely off the rails are the ones that are constantly in the news. So, I’ll just point to my home state of Massachusetts as one of the bigger offenders of this. The whole industry has discussed this. Gaming regulators are not the most experienced when it comes to gambling. Yet, they’re making very minute decisions about the industry that are really complex, and for any of us who have been in the industry for a little bit of time, you look at them and you go, why are you even wasting your time on a ‘21+’ ad on this or what’s the appropriate distance from a college campus to hold a pregame show, and what type of celebrity can say what thing? Why are we getting into this type of minutia when we can just look at what’s working and just build off of that?”
Ruddock isn’t optimistic about online casino or online poker expansion in 2024 — although he offered the caveat that nobody expected Rhode Island to legalize iCasino and “there’s always these dark horse states that appear out of nowhere.” Still, he’s discouraged by the recent studies pointing toward online casino cannibalizing retail revenue:
Does online casino really cannibalize brick-and-mortar casino revenue? "I think people lose sight of the fact that it's a door that swings both ways," @SteveRuddock explains on the latest episode of the Gamble On podcast: https://t.co/QI4nEVPmt6 pic.twitter.com/thSZrZCG24
— US Bets (@US_Bets) December 1, 2023
News segment nuggets 3r2z3v
- With news breaking this week of Texas. “If the stars do align and this all works out,” Edelstein said, “can you just imagine what this casino would look like? I mean, this is eighth wonder of the world stuff. I think it might be as big as Las Vegas. Like, not as big as a Las Vegas casino. I mean, as big as Las Vegas.”
- Raskin said of the California attorney general looking into the legality of all fantasy offerings, including California, is that pipeline of California DFS players who will be ready to become sports bettors whenever it legalizes.”
- A retail sportsbook inside a Chickie’s & Pete’s restaurant outside Philadelphia closed very quietly a couple of months back, and Raskin and Edelstein take that news as a clear sign of the times. “What am I standing up to go to a kiosk for when I’ve got [a sportsbook] in my pocket?” Edelstein wondered. Added Raskin: “I don’t imagine anyone else is going to experiment with putting a sportsbook inside a restaurant unless it’s in one of the few states that has retail betting but no mobile betting.”
Bankroll bets and parting thoughts 4u1m3a
The online streets are teeming with sharp bettors sharing advice that just may help people beat the books. Raskin and Edelstein are also online and like to place wagers.
This week’s notable bankroll bets:
- Boxing: Ryan Garcia defeat Oscar Duarte, -400
- Najee Harris anytime TD, +120
- NBA in-season tournament champion: Pacers, +1400; Suns, +650
- Exact score: Jaguars 19, Bengals 13, +15000
Raskin’s Bagels & Locks “lock” of the week (6-4 on the season so far): Broncos +3.5 at Texans
Edelstein’s Bagels & Locks “lock” of the week (5-5 on the season so far): Texans-Broncos under 47.5
Edelstein ends every episode with parting thoughts, and this week, he focused on the customer complaints fired at ESPN BET for voiding entire parlays when a single leg gets voided — but his take may be seen as contrarian:
“Read the rules before you bet. You know, some books are going to recalculate, some are going to void one leg, some void the bet. … And while I will readily it that ESPN BET’s policy is lousy … it is what it is. Read the rules, people. Don’t get mad when the books follow them.”
