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Tag: Betting

Two Online Sports Betting Initiatives Filed In California

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Two proposed ballot initiatives filed with the attorney general Friday give California Indian tribes exclusivity for in-person and online California sports betting.

Although no tribe is listed in the filing, individuals involved in the filing had prior business dealings with the Pala Band of Mission Indians. And as previously reported by PlayUSA, Pala Chairman Robert Smith had been in contact with some tribal leaders this month about filing a sports betting initiative.

It is not a widespread tribal effort, and multiple representatives of key California gaming tribes tell PlayUSA that they were not consulted prior to the filing.

Jacob Mejia, VP of Public and External Affairs for the Pechanga Development Corporation and spokesperson for the Coalition for Safe and Responsible Sports Wagering that opposed online sports betting initiative Prop 27 last election cycle, dismissed the filing:

“As far as we are concerned, this is a tribal measure in name only. We are not aware of any tribes having drafted this initiative. It sounds an awful lot like the ballot measure that was crushed by 82% of voters less than a year ago.”

Reeve Collins, co-founder and CEO of Pala Interactive, an online gaming platform created by the tribe and sold to Boyd Gaming in 2022, is listed as the contact for the initiative filings. The filings were signed by Ryan Tyler Walz, whose relationship to Collins is unclear.

One filing provides a full framework for California sports betting under Indian tribes. The other merely amends the state constitution to ensure that the state legislature may not authorize in-person or online sports betting for any person or entity other than an Indian tribe.

The state legislature could then set up the framework for sports betting with Indian tribes, who would enter compacts with the state, at a later date.

Pala Interactive founder sends letter to tribes after filing

Kasey Thompson, another Pala Interactive co-founder, sent tribal leaders a letter following the initiative filing. Thompson lists himself as president and CEO of Eagle 1 Acquisition Company, for which Collins also is involved.

“Our proposal permits only California tribes to control in-person and on-line sports betting in California,” Thompson wrote in the letter, acquired by PlayUSA. “Our proposal enables all California tribes to control their own destiny, and participate in sports betting however and whenever they see fit. Most importantly, our proposal prohibits all offshore and out-of-State operators from controlling sports betting in California.”

Thompson described Eagle One as founded to bring sports betting to California tribes. He pledged that Eagle One would entirely fund the initiative at no cost to tribes. He asked to meet with tribal leaders to discuss the proposal:

“We have met with a number of California tribes, and we would like to meet with you and all other tribes over the next 30 days so that we can ensure that our initiative represents your interests and reflects your input. We do not plan to proceed unless we have the full support of the California tribes.”

At a time when it appeared no California tribes or commercial operators were interested in filing a sports betting initiative for 2024 following the 2022 election failures, Thompson explained why he believes now is the time for a filing:

“We do not believe that waiting another two years is in the best interests of the California tribes or the people of California. The California tribes and the State itself are leaving significant revenue on the table, and we want to help reverse that situation now. The impact of the recent rulings in the Florida Seminole case have yet to be felt in California but could be significant. The time to submit a sports wagering proposal in California is now.”

Lack of tribal involvement in filing curious

When tribes filed what became Prop 26 in 2019, tribal leaders put their signatures on the proposed initiative.

Although he previously discussed the initiative with tribal leaders, it is noteworthy that Smith did not file the initiative. And tribal sources tell PlayUSA that Smith was invited to Thursday’s California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) meeting to discuss the proposal and did not show.

CNIGA Chairman James Siva released a statement:

“The California Nations Indian Gaming Association is deeply disappointed that the sponsors of the two recently filed initiatives did not first reach out to the State’s largest tribal gaming association for consultation and input. Instead, CNIGA and our member tribes were alerted to their existence when they were filed with the Attorney General today.

“Decisions driving the future of tribal governments should be made by tribal governments. While the sponsors of these initiatives may believe they know what is best for tribes, we encourage them to engage with Indian Country and ask, rather than dictate.”

Other tribal representatives reached by PlayUSA described the filers as commercial interests that lack established relationships with California Indian tribes, outside of Pala. And they didn’t take kindly to Thompson’s letter, calling it “patronizing.”

Details of California sports betting initiative

Titled the Sports Wagering Regulation and Tribal Gaming Protection Act, the fully formed initiative seems similar to the framework introduced last election cycle by tribes led by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Details include:

  • Tribes enter compacts with the state and contract with sportsbook operators as vendors.
  • Requires all California sports betting sites and mobile apps to be branded exclusively under the tribe’s federally recognized name.
  • Requires in-person registration for online sports betting accounts.
  • Only permits sports wagering by people 21 and older. This is relevant because some California Indian tribes allow gambling at 18 and older in their casinos.
  • Permits sports wagering only on professional, college, or amateur sports or athletic events. Excludes high school and lower-level school sports or athletic events.
  • Provides new sources of revenue to tribes and California communities to help address
    homelessness and mental health throughout California by the establishment of the California Homelessness and Mental Health Fund.
  • Suggests a model form sports wagering compact in which sport wagering tribes contribute 10% of adjusted sports wagering gross revenue into the California Homelessness and Mental Health Fund and 15% to revenue sharing with limited and non-gaming tribes.
  • Caps management service providers partnering with tribes to operate online sports betting to 40% of net revenues. It also limits such partnership agreements to seven years.

Petitioners won’t have much time to qualify for ballot

This is late for a California initiative filing, making qualifying difficult for the November 2024 election.

To have the full 180 days to collect signatures for a random count, the secretary of state recommends submitting an initiative by Aug. 22. After filing the initiative with the attorney general, the petitioner must wait 65 days to circulate the petition for signatures.

So the petitioners wouldn’t be able to begin collecting signatures until January, giving them about four months to collect the 874,641 valid signatures required to make the ballot.

The secretary of state recommends petitioners submit signatures to counties for verification by April 23. But there can be a one-to-two-week leeway.

Initiatives must be qualified by the secretary of state by June 27, 2024, at least 131 days prior to the Nov. 5 election.

The post Two Online Sports Betting Initiatives Filed In California appeared first on Play USA.

Rugby Betting Guide

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Love rugby? Want to learn more about how to bet on rugby? We’ve got all you need to know in our comprehensive guide to rugby betting. We’ll explain how rugby betting works, the bets you can place and throw in a few rugby betting tips too.

Rugby Union vs. Rugby League

First, let’s start with the difference between rugby union and rugby league.

Rugby Union Explained

  • Rugby union is played with 15 players on each team, with a maximum of seven substitutions able to be made.
  • A try in rugby union is worth five points with an extra two for a conversion.
  • Drop goals and penalties are each worth three points.
  • When a player is tackled, they must release the ball and it’s legal for any player to pick it up.
  • When the ball goes out of play, it is restarted with a line out.
  • Scrums are awarded for minor infringements like knock-ons.

Rugby League Explained

  • Rugby league is played with 13 players, with a total of 10 subs able to be made.
  • A try in rugby league is worth four points with an extra two for a conversion.
  • Drop goals are worth one point and penalties two points.
  • When a player is tackled, they must roll it back with their foot to a teammate.
  • In rugby league, each team has six chances to score – if they get tackled six times without scoring, they must kick the ball away towards the opposition.
  • If the ball goes out of play, it is restarted with a scrum. A scrum is also used for minor rule infringements.

Rugby Betting Odds Explained

When you bet on rugby with us at Grosvenor Sport, you’ll see the odds displayed as fractional odds. Each outcome within a betting market will have odds next to it. Take the example of Australia winning the Rugby World Cup with odds of 4/1.

If you place a £10 bet on Australia winning and the Wallabies triumph, you will win 4x your bet and get your stake back. In this example, your total winnings would be £40 plus your £10 bet, so you’ll have £50 in your betting account.

This is a super simple example. In reality things get a little more complicated with varying odds and multiple bets. Our bet calculator is the best way to calculate your winnings.

Main Rugby Betting Types

When it comes to betting on rugby, you have plenty of options to choose from. Popular rugby bets include:

Outright Results Betting

An outright bet is a bet on the result of a competition. With an outright bet in rugby, you’ll wager on a particular team to win a competition. It could be England in the Six Nations or Leicester in Premiership Rugby.

Each team in the competition or tournament has outright odds on their chance of winning, which change in line with their results and form in the competition. You can make an outright bet at the start of a tournament or at any time throughout.

Accumulators

With an accumulator, or Acca, you bet on four or more different outcomes. For example, you can bet on the result of four separate matches in Premiership rugby. Your odds are calculated by multiplying the prices from each selection – and the more bets you add the higher the potential payout. You can work out your odds on any potential accumulator bets with our bet calculator.

With accumulators, you only win on your bet if all of your bets come in. Even if only one fails to win, you lose everything.

Half-time/Full-time

For a Half-time/Full-time bet, you’re betting on both the match result at half-time and the result at the final whistle. For your bet to come in, you need both results to be as you predicted. It’s not enough to get just one right.

Try Scorer

You have three main options for betting on try scorers in rugby:

  • First try scorer – the player to score the first try in the match
  • Last try scorer – the player to score the last try in the match
  • Anytime try scorer – a player to score a try at any time in the match

You can also bet on “no try scorer” where you think no tries will be scored in the match at all.

Handicap Betting

Where one team is the favourite and another is the underdog, handicap betting gives you a chance to even things out with your wager.

Say New Zealand is playing a lower ranked team like Portugal in the Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks might be expected to steamroll the opposition. Handicap betting makes the outcome a little harder for them. For example, the All Blacks could be given a handicap of -13.5 points. If you bet on them to win, they would need to do so by 14 points or more. Similarly, Portugal could be given an advantage of +13.5. If you backed Portugal and they lost by less than 13 points, you would still win your bet.

Finding the Best Odds for Rugby Bets

When you want to bet on rugby, you’ll find different bookmakers online with varying odds. At Grosvenor Sport, we believe we have some of the most comprehensive rugby betting markets anywhere online. Plus, we work hard to bring you competitive odds across all the top competitions in the rugby calendar – both rugby union and rugby league.

Our team of experts continually analyses the form of teams and individual players, and watches encounters from across the world to bring you some of the best rugby odds you’ll find online. Simply sign up to an account to bet on rugby with Grosvenor Sport today.

Major Rugby Events to Bet On

So, now you have an idea of the difference between rugby union and rugby league, and the types of rugby bets you can make, let’s look at some of the top rugby events to bet on.

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup features 20 teams and 48 matches to crown the champions of the world in rugby union. It takes place every four years with the most recent event in France in 2023. The teams are split into four pools of five teams, before the top two from each pool head to the quarter finals. It’s pure knockout rugby from here on in.

At Grosvenor Sport, you’ll find the full range of rugby union betting markets for the Rugby World Cup. You can bet outright on the winner of the tournament, bet on individual matches, place Accas across multiple outcomes at the same time, and more.

Six Nations

Held every February and March, the Six Nations sees England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy battle it out to finish top of the table and take the title. Each team plays each other once in a league format. The team with the most points takes the title (and the Grand Slam if they win all their matches) and the team at the bottom takes the wooden spoon.

We have the full range of rugby betting markets for the Six Nations whenever it rolls around each year.

Champions Cup

The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual tournament for the top teams in Europe. It features sides from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales – as well as now South Africa – with qualification based on league positions from the season before.

The 24 teams initially face off in the group stage, before we go into the knockout stages. With Grosvenor Sport, you can bet on the outright winner and you’ll find the full range of match betting markets for every encounter across the competition.

Challenge Cup

The EPCR Challenge Cup is the second-tier European competition in rugby union. It features 18 teams battling it out across a group stage and knockout stages. You’ll find the full range of rugby union betting markets for the Challenge Cup with us at Grosvenor Sport.

Betting Strategies for Rugby Bets

Keen to place some wagers on rugby? Here are a few rugby betting tips to help you out.

Study the current form of teams:

Fancy a bet on the winner of the Six Nations? It’s important to look at how the teams are shaping up ahead of the tournament. Are Wales missing some key players? Have England put a recent run of wins together? It will all factor into the potential outcome.

Study the historical form:

Current form isn’t everything. Past performances for teams on certain grounds may have an impact on how they get on this time around.

Consider the style of play:

How certain teams play can affect the potential result and the bets to make. For example, if both teams tend to adopt a defensive kicking game, tries may be in short supply. Betting markets to focus on could be first penalty scorer and total number of points scored by a kicker.

Look to the experts:

There are plenty of experts online giving you their rugby betting tips ahead of the top encounters. You’ll find some at Grosvenor Sport on our blog too. The experts tend to know their stuff, so it’s a good idea to bring this into your rugby betting strategy.

Look at the data:

Can you analyse the data to understand how certain players play at specific grounds and against specific opposition? There is plenty of data out there, try and use it to your advantage.

Know when to stop:

It’s important to set a limit on your rugby betting and know when it’s time to stop.

Now you know the nuts and bolts of betting on rugby, check out our rugby betting markets and odds at Grosvenor Sport. Create an account with us or sign in to your existing account and you can bet on rugby with us. We’ll even throw in a welcome bonus for new customers when you make your first deposit.

 

 

Euro 2024 Odds: Betting Predictions and Picks

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Euro 2024 will be held in Germany from June 14 to July 14, 2024. We’re in the early stages of qualifications with no more than two games being played per side.

In total 24 will participate in the tournament, and 23 of those sides will come through the qualification process. As hosts, Germany automatically qualifies. 

We’re a year out from one of soccer’s most important tournaments – and with lots of qualifying matches left to play – but let’s take an early look at the odds board and who’s favored to win.

Odds to Win 2024 Euro

Odds to win Euro 2024
Team Odds
France +500
Germany +550
England +600
Spain +750
Portugal +1000
Belgium +1200
Italy +1200
Netherlands +1400
Denmark +2000
Croatia +3500

Odds as of June 13

Why Is France Favored to Win Euro 2024?

On an international level, the French are the second-best side. Les Bleus were runners-up at the 2022 World Cup. On that World Cup journey in Qatar, France took out some strong European opponents.

They bested Denmark 2-1 in the group stage (the Danish hold the ninth-best Euro odds), Poland in the Round of 16 by a score of 3-1 (Poland is at +5000 for Euro 2024) and then France dispatched the English 2-1 in the Quarter-Finals (England is third on Euro odds board).

Through the short qualification period, France is 2-0-0 with a +5 goal differential while keeping two clean sheets with wins over Ireland and the Netherlands. 

Star power is another big factor to consider, and the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge have the biggest star of them all in Kylian Mbappe. The PSG forward has no flaws in his game and dominates at every level. 

In Qatar, Mbappe scored the most goals (8), lead the tournament in goal-creating actions with 11 (five more than the next best-player) and was third for goal-creating actions per 90 (1.74). When it comes to unlocking a game there’s no better player in Europe or even the world than Mbappe.

Euro 2024 Value 

France enters the tournament as slight favorites, what sides have greater value and have a chance to win instead of the favorites?

Germany

The hosts are just behind France on the oddsboard at +550. Because of their host status, we don’t have any sense of the form their in. They haven’t played any games because they don’t need to qualify.

If not for a shock 2-1 loss to Japan in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, Germany would have likely gone much further. They bounced back from that defeat to the Blue Samurai with a 1-1 draw with a strong Spanish side before dismantling Costa Rica 4-2 to close out their tournament. 

The Germans will hope that youngster Jamal Musiala builds off a strong World Cup where he was credited with 7.67 shot-creating actions per 90 and an even better 22-23 Bundesliga campaign where he scored 12 goals and had ten assists for Bayern in his 19-year-old season. The kid is only going to get much better.

England

The English are the top-ranked side in Group C of Euro qualifiers with wins over Ukraine (2-0) and Italy (2-1).

Gareth Southgate’s side is winning games they should (against Ukraine) and those where they’re second best (vs Italy). Against the Azzurri, England only had 42% of the possession and 42% of the shots, they even went down a man in the 80th minute thanks to a Luke Shaw red card and still won 2-1. 

With Southgate’s contract over in December of 2024, this will likely be his final major tournament. His sides have come close to glory a few times but never won a title. Sadly for the three lions, their returns have been diminishing for the last few years.

England Under Southgate
Tournament Finish
2018 World Cup 4th
2022 Wold Cup 6th
2020 Euro Runner-Up
2019 UEFA Nations League 3rd
2021 UEFA Nations League 9th
2023 UEFA Nations League 15th

2024 Euro Dark horse

Every Euro tournament has its dark horse. A team comes out of nowhere and makes a deep run and upsets the landscape. 

In 2020, that was the Swiss who finished third in Group A and made it to the Quarter-Finals after beating France in the Round of 16.

Who should you have your eyes on in 2024?

Netherlands

The Dutch are no strangers to this competition. They won it once in 1988 and placed third four times. That last third-place finish came in 2004. 

At the 2022 World Cup, the Flying Dutchmen finished fourth with the third youngest squad in the competition. They had an average age of 26. Forward Cody Gakpo was a revelation with three goals in five matches for the Oranje in Qatar. 

There’s a lot to like about Holland. At +1400, keep an eye on their qualifying. 

Croatia

The Croatians are at the top of Group D with four points in two qualifiers. Remember, they finished as runners-up at the 2018 World Cup and then third in Qatar. Never discount Croatia at a major international tournament. With +3500 odds you could make $350 on a $10 bet backing them this early. That’s very tempting. 

Last Five Euro Winners

Last 5 Euro Winners
Year Team Opening Odds
2004 Greece +15000
2008 Spain +450
2012 Spain +250
2016 Portugal +1800
2020 Italy +700

 

Favorites typically win this tournament. They have deep squads overflowing with some of the most talented players in all of Europe. But every few years a dark horse goes all the way and is crowned Kings of Europe.

At +15000 Greece, and those who bet on them, haven’t yet forgotten about that tournament in 2004.

Last Five Euro Runners-Up 

Last 5 Euro Runners-Up
Year Team Score
2004 Portugal Lost 1-0 to Greece
2008 Germany Lost 1-0 to Spain
2012 Italy Lost 4-0 to Spain
2016 France Lost 1-0 to Portugal*
2020 England Lost 3-2 to Italy**

*After extra time
**Game tied 1-1 after extra time, ended 3-2 in penalties

The Euro finals are a low-scoring affair. Over the last five tournaments, three or more goals have been scored only once. It’s worth exploring the UNDER when the Final comes up in July of 2024.

How to Read Euro 2024 Odds

At any soccer betting site, you’ll see futures odds laid out like so:

  • England +500
  • Belgium +550
  • France +550
  • Spain +700

If you were to make a traditional straight-up bet, the favorite would be shown with the minus sign (-). In cases like these where there is no clear front-runner, the country with the lowest odds is the fave even if they’re all represented with the plus sign (+) which is generally used to demonstrate underdogs.

Let’s say you’ve looked at the group schedule and think Belgium is going to dominate and make it all the way to the top. A $100 bet would give you a payout of $650 – your original money is returned coupled with your winnings of $550.

Our Odds Calculator is a tool that will tell you how much you’d win based on the offered odds and amount bet.

What is a Futures Bet on the Euro Championship?

A futures bet is a wager made far in advance of a big event. Here, the bet is on the quadrennial Euro contest. It can be said that most bets are made prior to a sporting matchup, but futures can be placed weeks, months or even years in advance. In fact, as soon as the last championship is won, new odds will be released.

The odds will shift as the group stage gets closer and continue to move until right before the final is played on July 14, 2024, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. If you see odds you like, take them to get the most value on your bets (should you win).

The Biggest Name in Betting

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There’s no bigger name in North American sports betting right now than James “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, a 72-year-old furniture magnate based in Houston, TX.

Mack famously won a jaw-dropping payout of US $76 million on a 2022 World Series bet in which he picked his hometown Astros to beat the Philadelphia Phillies. It set a record for the biggest payout in US sports betting history.

And that was just one wager in a series of attention-grabbing multimillion-dollar bets he’s placed in recent years. He wins big, but he also loses big – and in the process, he’s shown a keen understanding of his own risk-taking nature. That’s why this famous bettor has gone on record saying he’s happy that local gambling restrictions help to keep his impulsiveness in check.

Mattress Mack’s Millions

Born into a sports-loving family, Mattress Mack played college football himself before graduating and being bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.

In 1981, he opened the first of what would become a chain of successful furniture stores under the name Gallery Furniture. In fact, decades of appearances in TV commercials promoting these stores – specifically, the mattresses they sell – is what eventually led locals to give him his alliterative nickname, which then naturally became his handle in the sports betting world.

With his stores eventually bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue – his salary as of 2023 is a reported $30 million – Mack became rich by any common understanding of the word.

He’s cleverly leveraged much of the money he’s won betting on sports to promote his business. When he won his record-breaking bet, a good chunk of that huge payout ended up going to his customers to honour a promotion to refund mattress purchases if he won the bet. It’s safe to assume many Houston mattress buyers likely had the best sleep of their lives the night he won.

Know Thyself, and Play Safe

Of course, like all gamblers, Mack doesn’t always win. He’s had not just cold streaks but collapses that would bankrupt most people, including a lengthy stretch during the 2021-22 football season that cost him millions.

But he understands his impulsive personality. He has even gone on record stating that he’s happy he needs to travel out of state in order to legally place most wagers. Texas doesn’t allow sports betting, so he drives to Louisiana, and Mack claims the time and distance involved both serve to help “limit those impulses” to wager on whatever strikes his fancy.

If, like Mack, you sometimes act impulsively when betting on sports, you might want to consider popping over to your neighbourhood convenience store to place your bet. Betting with PROLINE in-store is an easy way to play, but it does require you to travel to place a wager. It’s not quite the same sort of obstacle as needing to drive to another province to play, but it does mean you’ll need to invest some physical effort in acting on those impulses and will provide a little more time to mull over whether you want to place your bet.

If you prefer playing online, no worries; PlaySmart has resources to help you manage spur-of-the-moment decision making.

The sports spend limit tool allows you to control how much money you plan to spend on sports betting on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The first step before risking any money gambling is to establish your budget. That way you’ll always be on top of your game.

PlaySmart educational tools, meanwhile, provide guides and tips that can help you better understand how to bet, how different games work, how odds are set, and your chances of winning. This will help you figure out, for example, what it means to bet on single games or groups of games (parlay bets), and whether you want to wager on the outcomes of games or specific facets within those games, such as an individual player’s performance.

Play Smart, Have Fun

Mattress Mack made a name for himself by winning big, but he’s not really playing for the money. His wagers are placed for the thrill of it, not with an expectation to pad his bank account.

Casual players can learn a lesson from Houston’s famous bed seller. Gamble what you can afford, never chase losses or try to win back what you’ve lost by going deeper into your pocket, and don’t expect to win. If you need help getting into that headspace, PlaySmart has you covered.