http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090914/NEWS/909140339
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<!--PRINTER FRIENDLY ARTICLE-->[FONT=verdana,arial]September 14, 2009
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[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Hundreds wait, wager and watch[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Serif]Three racinos see strong turnout on first Sunday of NFL season
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By ADAM TAYLOR
The News Journal [/FONT]The Eagles and Ravens won their season openers Sunday -- and the three new sports books in Delaware appeared to be victors as well.
Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway seemed to collect impressive totals from bettors who flocked to the casinos for the first full Sunday schedule of games they could bet on.
About 200 flocked to the Delaware Park sports book before the 1 p.m. start of the Eagles' and Ravens' games. Almost all of them had parlay, teaser and superteaser cards in front of them as they screamed during the games, broadcast on a bank of 26 television screens.
"I'm very happy, very pleasantly surprised at the turnout and level of interest for week one," Delaware Park Chief Operating Officer Andrew Gentile said. "It's a work in progress each week. As the season goes on, we expect to fine-tune our operations, offer more promotions and bring in bigger crowds who will see our facility as a destination place to watch the games all day on Sundays."
Gentile said he couldn't disclose how much money was taken in, saying he thinks a Delaware government official would make those figures public Friday.
The scene at Dover Downs was similar. About 200 crammed into the sports book, eating wings, drinking beer and placing bets.
At Dover Downs, dozens lined up at 3:45 p.m. to place bets including Washington over the New York Giants, a game with a 4:15 p.m. start.
Eagles fans didn't know if offensive tackle Winston Justice would get slaughtered by Panthers star defensive end Julius Peppers. Ravens fans didn't know if former UD quarterback Joe Flacco might suffer a sophomore slump.
And casino officials didn't know what to expect at their sports book windows.
Turns out, Justice, Flacco and Delaware's new gambling experiment all held their own.
[SIZE=+2]'More fun now that it's legal'
At 12:30 p.m., large groups of people were leaving Delaware Park. They went there to place bets, then went home or to a sports bar to watch the games.
One was B.J. Brown, who drove to Delaware Park with three friends to place bets.
"It's more fun now that it's legal," said Brown, a longtime bettor. "You can have fun and laugh about it now, rather than hide it and get paranoid that you were doing something that was against the law."
Brown said if single-game bets were allowed, he may have stayed all day, because there would have been more wagers for him to make and it would have been a more interesting place to spend the day.
Paul Hester of Bear placed bets and headed home to watch the games. He's been a regular bettor -- and runs a Web site called howtobetfootball.com.
"I'm hoping that the legal action in Delaware might drive more action at my site and give me the opportunity to land local advertisers there," he said.
Gentile said there were also crowds at Delaware Park's upstairs sports books. He placed Cowboys fans in one room and Eagles fans in another, even though the teams weren't facing each other Sunday.
Sunday featured promotions from a beer company and contests giving bettors an opportunity to win Super Bowl tickets. Gentile said he hopes to add to the promotions as the season progresses, including the potential for Madden video game tournaments on the huge sports book TV screens before the 1 p.m. games.
At Delaware Park, it wasn't hard to find people who came from Philadelphia, South Jersey and Maryland to take advantage of sports betting.
Eagles fan John Lidely of Bordentown, N.J., said he loves the parlay bets and thought the atmosphere was enjoyable enough that he planned to stay all day to watch games.
"It's just starting and I think the offerings will get better as the season goes on," he said. "I like that I don't have to go to a bookie and bet the games legit."
Lidely jumped from his chair after interceptions by Eagles defensive backs Sheldon Brown, Joselio Hanson and Asante Samuel. He slumped, however, when quarterback Donovan McNabb cracked a rib.
Brad Nicholas of Baltimore agreed with Lidely -- he enjoyed making the parlay bets.
[SIZE=+2]Disgruntled bettors, too[/SIZE]
But the crowd had its critics, including a man from Delaware who didn't want to give his name.
"I was late and didn't get here until 1:05, so I had to call the bookie," he said. "I'm a parlay bettor anyway, so that's not it. It's just that the beer is too expensive [$4.50 for a bottle and $4.75 for a draft], and there are too many baseball games on some of the screens. ... It looks like there's even an episode of the 'Family Guy' being shown on one of them."
Another man who didn't want to give his name stared at the electronic board that showed the current odds on the game. When he found out that "over-under" bets -- based on the total points scored by both teams -- weren't allowed, he scrunched up his parlay card and threw it out.
"This stinks," he said. "Parlays are sucker's bets. I'd rather bet the ponies."
And that's what he did, walking to the horse-racing section of the room.
Steve Miller of Newark jokingly said a critical mass of Las Vegas-type decadence was needed.
Delaware Park's Gentile said he was pleased with the crowd's mostly thumbs-up reaction. He said Sunday was a dream come true for him, professionally and personally.
"As a football fanatic, I've looked forward to this day since I was 21," he said. "Now I can finally place a legal wager on the game I've loved and enjoyed for so long."
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<!--PRINTER FRIENDLY ARTICLE-->[FONT=verdana,arial]September 14, 2009
[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Hundreds wait, wager and watch[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Serif]Three racinos see strong turnout on first Sunday of NFL season
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
By ADAM TAYLOR
The News Journal [/FONT]The Eagles and Ravens won their season openers Sunday -- and the three new sports books in Delaware appeared to be victors as well.
Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway seemed to collect impressive totals from bettors who flocked to the casinos for the first full Sunday schedule of games they could bet on.
About 200 flocked to the Delaware Park sports book before the 1 p.m. start of the Eagles' and Ravens' games. Almost all of them had parlay, teaser and superteaser cards in front of them as they screamed during the games, broadcast on a bank of 26 television screens.
"I'm very happy, very pleasantly surprised at the turnout and level of interest for week one," Delaware Park Chief Operating Officer Andrew Gentile said. "It's a work in progress each week. As the season goes on, we expect to fine-tune our operations, offer more promotions and bring in bigger crowds who will see our facility as a destination place to watch the games all day on Sundays."
Gentile said he couldn't disclose how much money was taken in, saying he thinks a Delaware government official would make those figures public Friday.
The scene at Dover Downs was similar. About 200 crammed into the sports book, eating wings, drinking beer and placing bets.
At Dover Downs, dozens lined up at 3:45 p.m. to place bets including Washington over the New York Giants, a game with a 4:15 p.m. start.
Eagles fans didn't know if offensive tackle Winston Justice would get slaughtered by Panthers star defensive end Julius Peppers. Ravens fans didn't know if former UD quarterback Joe Flacco might suffer a sophomore slump.
And casino officials didn't know what to expect at their sports book windows.
Turns out, Justice, Flacco and Delaware's new gambling experiment all held their own.
[SIZE=+2]'More fun now that it's legal'
At 12:30 p.m., large groups of people were leaving Delaware Park. They went there to place bets, then went home or to a sports bar to watch the games.
One was B.J. Brown, who drove to Delaware Park with three friends to place bets.
"It's more fun now that it's legal," said Brown, a longtime bettor. "You can have fun and laugh about it now, rather than hide it and get paranoid that you were doing something that was against the law."
Brown said if single-game bets were allowed, he may have stayed all day, because there would have been more wagers for him to make and it would have been a more interesting place to spend the day.
Paul Hester of Bear placed bets and headed home to watch the games. He's been a regular bettor -- and runs a Web site called howtobetfootball.com.
"I'm hoping that the legal action in Delaware might drive more action at my site and give me the opportunity to land local advertisers there," he said.
Gentile said there were also crowds at Delaware Park's upstairs sports books. He placed Cowboys fans in one room and Eagles fans in another, even though the teams weren't facing each other Sunday.
Sunday featured promotions from a beer company and contests giving bettors an opportunity to win Super Bowl tickets. Gentile said he hopes to add to the promotions as the season progresses, including the potential for Madden video game tournaments on the huge sports book TV screens before the 1 p.m. games.
At Delaware Park, it wasn't hard to find people who came from Philadelphia, South Jersey and Maryland to take advantage of sports betting.
Eagles fan John Lidely of Bordentown, N.J., said he loves the parlay bets and thought the atmosphere was enjoyable enough that he planned to stay all day to watch games.
"It's just starting and I think the offerings will get better as the season goes on," he said. "I like that I don't have to go to a bookie and bet the games legit."
Lidely jumped from his chair after interceptions by Eagles defensive backs Sheldon Brown, Joselio Hanson and Asante Samuel. He slumped, however, when quarterback Donovan McNabb cracked a rib.
Brad Nicholas of Baltimore agreed with Lidely -- he enjoyed making the parlay bets.
[SIZE=+2]Disgruntled bettors, too[/SIZE]
But the crowd had its critics, including a man from Delaware who didn't want to give his name.
"I was late and didn't get here until 1:05, so I had to call the bookie," he said. "I'm a parlay bettor anyway, so that's not it. It's just that the beer is too expensive [$4.50 for a bottle and $4.75 for a draft], and there are too many baseball games on some of the screens. ... It looks like there's even an episode of the 'Family Guy' being shown on one of them."
Another man who didn't want to give his name stared at the electronic board that showed the current odds on the game. When he found out that "over-under" bets -- based on the total points scored by both teams -- weren't allowed, he scrunched up his parlay card and threw it out.
"This stinks," he said. "Parlays are sucker's bets. I'd rather bet the ponies."
And that's what he did, walking to the horse-racing section of the room.
Steve Miller of Newark jokingly said a critical mass of Las Vegas-type decadence was needed.
Delaware Park's Gentile said he was pleased with the crowd's mostly thumbs-up reaction. He said Sunday was a dream come true for him, professionally and personally.
"As a football fanatic, I've looked forward to this day since I was 21," he said. "Now I can finally place a legal wager on the game I've loved and enjoyed for so long."
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