Poker is a sport, the WSOP and their partners at ESPN would like you to believe. Except when it comes to sports betting because that might violate the Wire Act everywhere except in Nevada (and maybe soon New Jersey) … and all of that is at least tangentially wrapped around your ability to bet on “sports” anywhere with Leroy’s app, owned by British bookmaker William Hill … but I digress … this year you can have extra fun at the WSOP by betting on any player who advances to a tournament’s final day, which also gives backers the ability to hedge and/or press their bets on various WSOP horses who make it deep.
Earlier this month, the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved proposition sports betting on almost all events at the 2012 WSOP. Every event except #1, the $500 casino employees NLH champonship … because letting a representative of one casino bet on his or her gambling activity in another casino and hedging that action in yet another casino … well that would just be crazy … and we don’t even need to get into the absolute nuttiness of what might happen if a WSOP exec were to accidentally win a bracelet.
(Watch it live, with hole cards, on just a 30 5 15-minute delay!)
Plausible perceptions of impropriety aside, my best guess is that Nevada regulators are so confident in their ability to prevent collusion, chip dumping, and made-for-Hollywood murder-for-hire that they’re willing to create opportunities for possible malfeasance just so they can show what isn’t happening … and anything else will eventually right itself with the introduction of complex poker derivatives into the game.
Quick LOL … something I stumbled across while reading what I presumed was just a ho-hum news article about another state gearing up for online gambling (via the PPA’s latest newsletter). I wanted to see what state was next and whether or not they separated out poker. Turns out it was just California, talking about how much money they stand to make if they can just catch up with Nevada. For sure. Righteous, dudes.
But what stands out most to me is a line from one of the opponents of any measures for California to finally get serious about regulating online games within their own borders:
“We don’t want to see any of it,” said pastor James Butler from the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion. “Pretty soon they’ll have an app that will allow you to connect instantly to a casino or a gambling site. Want to lose your home? We have an app for that,” Butler said.
Emphasis added. Not sure if we should tell the fine pastor that they already do have such an app — all over the UK to be sure, and in Nevada you can bet sports for real money anywhere you want using your Droid or iPhone with Leroy’s App. (It just turns off when you get to the California border — amazing that crazy technology these days!)
More…
Won’t this be extra fun when you can make these kinda wagers on your mobile phone? Oh, wait, with Leroy’s app you can, anywhere within Nevada state lines, so the army of Aliens camped out at Area 51 should have no problem betting on Ben Lamb and/or Badih Bounahra without revealing themselves to all of humankind.
Nevada Gaming just approved some new wagers for the November Nine … some of which are obv, and others that may or may not be a little more silly.
The list of approved wagers, at house odds:
Player to Win 2011 World Series of Poker
Will There Be More Red or Black Cards in the First Flop at the Final Table
What Will the Final Winning Hand Be
Will Chip Leader at Start of Final Table Win Event (Yes or No)
Who Will Finish in Ninth Place
Total Number of Hands Dealt at the Final Table