Betting on sporting events has been going on maybe since the beginning of sports but it became legal in Indiana Sept. 1.
Mobile sports betting did not come online until Oct. 3.
In the first month, locations licensed to accept sports bets took in $35.2 million, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission.
Only two people who had placed sports bets responded to an inquiry about their experiences on the Connersville News-Examiner Facebook page.
Jeff Logan is a truck driver who has bet on sports long before the practice became legal. He began putting down wagers at Indiana Grand in Shelbyville when it became legal.
Shelbyville opened the first day to accept sports book.
“I was there (Shelbyville) day one,” he said. “I bet on the Colts to win the Super Bowl at 10-1 and took the Indiana Hoosiers to win in basketball (NCAA) at 50-1. I did a couple baseball bets since it was going on at that time. I still have a winning ticket I need to take back because I haven’t been there since.”
He attended the ribbon cutting at Shelbyville and when the windows opened, probably 50 people stood in line ahead of him and nearly that many behind him, he said.
Harrah’s Hoosier Park in Anderson opened about three weeks later, he said. Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg has opened for sportsbook and he also visited there recently.
Logan has also visited the Anderson location because he has friends who go to that track. Now that mobile betting is legal, that is where he places most bets.
“Believe it or not, I put $50 in my online account through DraftKings and as of this morning (Monday), I have $176 in there,” Logan said. “I’m not a big player by any means. I do it for pure fun.”
On an online parlay bet, betting two or more teams to win, bets can be as low as 10 cents, he said. At the casinos, it is a $5 minimum.
The casino or online service will win in the long haul; they will never lose, he said. While he may win a little, others lose.
As a truck driver, there are time he drives to Kentucky and Ohio. He explained if he is physically in those states, his cellphone will recognize that and he cannot place bets until back in Indiana. Those states have not set up sports betting yet and he has not visited another state with legal online sports betting to try betting there.
His son lives in Missouri and cannot place online bets on Indiana sites but when he returns to the state, Logan said.
“I always went to Vegas twice a year,” he said. “I went every year for March Madness for the basketball tournament and then in the fall for football. I won’t say I’ll never go to Las Vegas again, but I really don’t have the desire to have to go now because I can do everything here that I can do there.”
He heard a statistic that more money has been wagered online than in the casinos, which is not a surprise. The sportsbook area at casinos on weekends are always packed so that many more are betting online.
Aaron Klemme posted that he had recently tried sports betting just for fun. Two others posted they do not participate and believe it to be wrong.
Doneita Neukam said it is a waste of time that could be used to something more uplifting for others.
It is just another way for the state to make money off the poor, Richard Harris said.
Online sportsbook companies and casinos do not take a commission but the state of Indiana takes 9.5% of the bets. The tax is based on the Sports Wagering Adjusted Gross Revenue which reflects the handle (wagers), less the payouts on winning wagers.
In September, the Gaming Commission reported receiving $813,103 in sports waging taxes. The October report showed the tax increasing to $1,096,160 from the casinos and online betting.
Betters placed a total of $91.7 million in sports bets with $48 million of that in online bets for the month. Football sports betting leads the way with $63.6 million in wagers for both months
“I’ve been doing it my whole life, and I know I’m not the only one, so why not make it legal and let the state make a little money off it?” Logan said.
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