Sports Betting Has Arrived In The Hoosier State
December 4, 2019 at 1:03 a.m.
Sports Betting Has Arrived In The Hoosier State
By Roger Grossman-
So far, it seems to be a well-received idea here.
Governor Holcomb signed a bill in May to make it legal to place a bet on professional and college sporting events starting this fall, and the early results are mind-blowing.
In October, $91.7 million was spent on betting from Indiana-based sports gambling locations.
That’s a lot, right?
It is legal to bet on just about all professional sports and most college sports. You can bet on big sporting events like the NFL and major college football, or you can bet on something obscure like Division I lacrosse and tennis.
Of that almost $92 million, over $40 million in wagers were place on pro football, and that makes sense. The biggest reason for the timing of Holcomb’s signing back in the spring was to allow for gambling venues and online promoters to get the infrastructure in place for betting on football in the fall.
That would include mobile apps for setting up accounts to place bets from phones and devices. The convenience of mobile betting is obvious — more betting from people who aren’t near a land-based casino or betting site, and the potential for spontaneous and prop betting (that’s betting on things like who will score first in the third quarter or whether a team will go for it or punt on the fourth down play coming up).
Now, I am not an expert on gambling on sports or anything else. About the biggest risk I care to take is driving in Warsaw at 4 p.m. on Friday of a three-day holiday weekend.
I don’t bet on anything, partly out of Biblical principal and partly out of a sense of control. If you and I are playing golf and you want to bet me that I can’t make the putt I am standing over, I might do that. If one of the Tiger basketball players want to challenge me to a free throw contest for a bottle of pop, I can pretty much guarantee you that I would take that bet (and I’d like my chances). But that’s because I am in control of my own success or failure.
Too much of life is already dependent on what others do or don’t do, I don’t need to do it for fun.
So, is sports gambling bad for Indiana?
The number is $91.7 million. Again, that’s a humongous total. That adds a lot of tax money into the state’s coffers, and there are plenty of places the state can plug that money into—like teachers and schools for example.
And we heard the same things said when state lawmakers created the Hoosier Lottery system.
So how is this different, or is it?
For me, it’s not.
I know, I am a prude, but gambling is a vice and I have no use for it and wish it wasn’t here in my home state.
I also know that it’s legal in Indiana now, and I refuse to be a dog who annoys his neighbors by barking at things he has seen every night of his entire life.
So, now what?
I get why someone would want to bet on a sporting event. Putting some cash on a game or event that you wouldn’t otherwise care about with the potential to make some cash on top of it adds an edge that some people need.
Not me.
But, again, the horses are out of the barn and they are running down the road, so closing the barn door now is a waste of time.
My biggest concern is simple.
Gambling insiders are always looking for information to give them an edge on other gamblers with the goal of making more money. They have, over the course of time, been known to contact and reach agreements with athletes on a team with the intention of helping secure the outcome of a certain game (that’s a fancy way of saying they “throw” games or “fix” outcomes).
If those supporting the concept of paying college athletes are correct, college athletes suffer under the weight of financial hardship. So it’s logical that athletes seeking cash are fertile ground for gambling degenerates who are willing to pay an athlete a little to make a lot more for themselves.
That ground is now Hoosier soil.
It should be noted that high school sports are not on the list of events on which bets can be placed.
Think about it — how many of you parents can’t predict what your own child (one of them) will do at any given moment? So betting on what as many as 60 will do, collectively, on one night, is impossible.
So far, it seems to be a well-received idea here.
Governor Holcomb signed a bill in May to make it legal to place a bet on professional and college sporting events starting this fall, and the early results are mind-blowing.
In October, $91.7 million was spent on betting from Indiana-based sports gambling locations.
That’s a lot, right?
It is legal to bet on just about all professional sports and most college sports. You can bet on big sporting events like the NFL and major college football, or you can bet on something obscure like Division I lacrosse and tennis.
Of that almost $92 million, over $40 million in wagers were place on pro football, and that makes sense. The biggest reason for the timing of Holcomb’s signing back in the spring was to allow for gambling venues and online promoters to get the infrastructure in place for betting on football in the fall.
That would include mobile apps for setting up accounts to place bets from phones and devices. The convenience of mobile betting is obvious — more betting from people who aren’t near a land-based casino or betting site, and the potential for spontaneous and prop betting (that’s betting on things like who will score first in the third quarter or whether a team will go for it or punt on the fourth down play coming up).
Now, I am not an expert on gambling on sports or anything else. About the biggest risk I care to take is driving in Warsaw at 4 p.m. on Friday of a three-day holiday weekend.
I don’t bet on anything, partly out of Biblical principal and partly out of a sense of control. If you and I are playing golf and you want to bet me that I can’t make the putt I am standing over, I might do that. If one of the Tiger basketball players want to challenge me to a free throw contest for a bottle of pop, I can pretty much guarantee you that I would take that bet (and I’d like my chances). But that’s because I am in control of my own success or failure.
Too much of life is already dependent on what others do or don’t do, I don’t need to do it for fun.
So, is sports gambling bad for Indiana?
The number is $91.7 million. Again, that’s a humongous total. That adds a lot of tax money into the state’s coffers, and there are plenty of places the state can plug that money into—like teachers and schools for example.
And we heard the same things said when state lawmakers created the Hoosier Lottery system.
So how is this different, or is it?
For me, it’s not.
I know, I am a prude, but gambling is a vice and I have no use for it and wish it wasn’t here in my home state.
I also know that it’s legal in Indiana now, and I refuse to be a dog who annoys his neighbors by barking at things he has seen every night of his entire life.
So, now what?
I get why someone would want to bet on a sporting event. Putting some cash on a game or event that you wouldn’t otherwise care about with the potential to make some cash on top of it adds an edge that some people need.
Not me.
But, again, the horses are out of the barn and they are running down the road, so closing the barn door now is a waste of time.
My biggest concern is simple.
Gambling insiders are always looking for information to give them an edge on other gamblers with the goal of making more money. They have, over the course of time, been known to contact and reach agreements with athletes on a team with the intention of helping secure the outcome of a certain game (that’s a fancy way of saying they “throw” games or “fix” outcomes).
If those supporting the concept of paying college athletes are correct, college athletes suffer under the weight of financial hardship. So it’s logical that athletes seeking cash are fertile ground for gambling degenerates who are willing to pay an athlete a little to make a lot more for themselves.
That ground is now Hoosier soil.
It should be noted that high school sports are not on the list of events on which bets can be placed.
Think about it — how many of you parents can’t predict what your own child (one of them) will do at any given moment? So betting on what as many as 60 will do, collectively, on one night, is impossible.
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