A staggering 31.4 million people are expected to place bets on the Super Bowl. They won’t travel two hours to make that wager. Most of them will not place wagers worth $9.5 million.
Jim McIngvale, a mattress mogul is worth that much BetThe Super Bowl is on the Cincinnati Bengals. A win of $16.15million will be McIngvale’s if the Cincinnati Bengals are victorious as the underdogs. McIngvale placed a $4.5million bet at Caesars Sportsbook. The book claimed that this was the most expensive bet ever made from a smartphone. Caesars claimed that the $5 million additional bet McIngvale made on the Bengals was the biggest legal bet in American history. It beat out a $4.9 Million bet on St. Louis Rams. (They lost to a new upstart quarterback named Tom Brady).
McIngvale’s luck is that he didn’t have to fly all the distance to Las Vegas in order to place his bet. The Supreme Court did not allow sports betting to be legalized nationwide. It simply stated that Congress could not prohibit states from legalizing them.
McIngvale had to travel two hours to Louisiana to get to McIngvale. Despite the reputation of Texas as a free-willing, independent state, Texans cannot gamble freely and will not be allowed to open any casino or sportsbooks.
Legal sports betting has finally been made legal in Louisiana on mobile devices over the past few weeks. McIngvale might have taken a flight to Las Vegas before he could legally place a record-setting mobile betting bet.
PlayUSA, a website that provides news and analyses on sports betting in the United States estimates that there are approximately 500,000 people. $1 Billionlegal wagering on the Super Bowl. However, this is only a small fraction of what will be wagered legally on the Super Bowl. $7.6 BillionAccording to the American Gaming Association, both legal and illegal bets will be made. But different approaches could explain this huge difference. The United States has less than half its population living in areas that offer mobile betting.
Texas does not have sports betting legalized, however that doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be possible for people to place wagers. Bettors who are serious about betting can also place casual bets among friends or bet at an offshore bookie. McIngvale also suggests that they follow McIngvale’s example and travel to states with legalized betting.
Maybe Texas should let Texans just do what they want and allow online and in-person sportsbooks to start up.