Georgia On My Mind
Georgia On My Mind
2024 is going to be a tough year for gambling legalization, but one of the biggest prizes, Georgia, is one of the strongest candidates.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: A Georgia lawmaker is already making the case for casinos and sports betting legalization in 2024.
WEEKEND CATCHUP: FanDuel sets its NYSE listing date, and NC finalizes sports betting rules as the application period begins.
NEWS: DraftKings has launched a new DFS product in six states. The contest is called Pick6, and it has a familiar look and feel.
QUICK HITTER: Gamban debuts in Ohio with a free, one-year subscription to its gambling website blocking program.
NEWS: FanDuel lobbied to “water down” responsible gambling policies in New York, according to The Guardian.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Entrances, are they good or bad for poker?
STRAY THOUGHTS: Looking ahead to this week’s feature article.
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Georgia Lawmaker Eyes Casinos and Sports Betting in 2024
Let’s put gambling expansion before the voters. That was Georgia State Sen. Brandon Beach’s proclamation during a Joint Committee on Economic Development and Tourism hearing last week.
Beach will bundle sports betting with resort casinos and pari-mutuel facilities in legislation he intends to introduce in January. Under Beach’s proposal, the gambling expansions would need a constitutional amendment, requiring passage by the legislature and Georgia voters in November.
Per Beach, the measure could generate up to $900 million annually, create jobs, and bring nighttime activities to the metro Atlanta area.
“I’m all for sports betting, but I will tell you from an economic development [and] job creation standpoint, sports betting is done through this,” Beach said. “From a job creation standpoint, if we would have three destination resort casinos and one pari-mutuel track or maybe two, we would create a lot of jobs.”
Beach was a co-sponsor of a mobile sports betting bill earlier this year, which was one of several recent efforts to expand gambling in the state.
One of the zanier efforts occurred in February when lawmakers tried to turn a soapbox derby bill (SB 57) into a sports betting bill after other legislation (HB 57, SR 140, SB 172, HR 210, HB 380) failed to pass.
Weekend Catchup: FanDuel NYSE and OSB Rules in NC
Flutter will begin trading under FLUT on the New York Stock Exchange on January 29. the company will continue to trade on the London Stock Exchange but will remove its listing in Euronext Dublin.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission’s Sports Betting Advisory Committee approved a second set of rules last week, setting the stage for the application period to begin - which it did on Friday. So far, 11 operators have submitted applications per Sterl Carpenter, the NC Lottery deputy director of sports betting.
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DraftKings Unveils P2P Pick’ Em DFS Contests
DraftKings has officially launched a Pick’ Em style daily fantasy sports product called Pick6. The peer-to-peer contests resemble a recent release from Underdog Fantasy (a newsletter sponsor) dubbed Pick’ Em Champions.
While some states have cast a critical eye on any DFS product that resembles prop betting, some locales are drawing the line at vs-the-house contests and giving P2P Pick’ Em style offerings a pass.
On December 6, Pick6 contests went live in six states: Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin - and yes, that’s a lot of sixes.
Per its press release, Pick6 users “can build a lineup of two to six players from two or more teams, choosing more or less of a statistic for every athlete on their team.”
From there, it gets a little more confusing as DraftKings sorted out a way to make the contests P2P:
“After building your Pick Set, you will be asked to enter your Entry Fees.
“Pick6 contests are $1 entry contests. Each $1 of your Entry Fees represents a single entry into a contest, and each entry is competing for a share of the contest's total prizes. For example, $10 in Entry Fees is equal to 10 entries for the selected Pick Set.
“Unlike other DraftKings DFS contests, participants do not need to enter individual contests through the contest lobby. Instead, your Entry Fees will be divided into $1 entries, which are then distributed across eligible contests, subject to your confirmation.”
The way entries are distributed requires an even lengthier explanation, which you can find here if you’re interested.
The launch of Pick6 was several months in the making, as an eagle-eyed X user stumbled across a trademark for the name filed by DraftKings in early October.
Quick Hitter: Gamban Debuts in Ohio
The Ohio Lottery Commission’s responsible gambling division, Time Out Ohio, has launched a new program that allows users to block online gambling sites and mobile apps across all their devices.
The new free-for-one-year program (the normal cost is $35/year), Gamban, blocks legal and illegal gambling sites (from sportsbooks to esports to social casinos to bingo) from around the globe, including gambling affiliate websites, but not sports information sites.
“Time Out is a tool for legal-based blocking, but Gamban protects individuals from the illegal market as well as those beyond the Commission’s authority,” Amanda Blackford, the director of operations and Responsible Gaming at the Ohio Lottery Commission, said.
According to Gamban cofounder Matt Zarb-Cousin, the program has already been used by 84 individuals. The program has been live for a few months, but they’ve just begun promoting it.
Documents Show FanDuel Lobbied Against RG Policies in NY
According to a report in The Guardian, FanDuel lobbied against responsible gambling policies in New York. The Guardian obtained the documents through a FOIA request.
The policies in question prohibited using certain terms in advertisements and advertisements near college campuses. FanDuel also opposed a rule that held operators responsible for third-party affiliate marketing partners.
“It’s the biggest hypocrisy,” RG consultant and lobbyist Brianne Doura-Schawohl told The Guardian. “It seems not only disingenuous to the public, but also the policymakers that probably took many of them at their word that responsible gambling was a priority.”
To play devil’s advocate, FanDuel’s objections (starting on Page 18 here) seem to focus on ambiguous language and the policies being “extremely subjective and impractical to enforce.”
Responsible gaming is undoubtedly a priority for every operator. Still, it’s becoming abundantly clear that the priority is to abide by the rules set before them, not advocate for stricter or better rules. Based on everything we know and have seen, the notion that companies look at high-volume (potentially problem) gamblers as persona non grata simply doesn’t pass the smell test.
On X, RG consultant Jamie Salsburg put it this way, “It will be much easier when we stop the charade, acknowledging the reality that operators can/will optimize for revenue and responsibility for RG and PG efforts are assigned to the state and/or third parties.”
We also need to realize the divergent goals of the marketing and compliance (RG) departments.
Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
Phil Hellmuth’s WSOP Paradise entrance was the talk of Poker Twitter yesterday.
I’ve long disliked the entrance. It’s awkward and distracting, and as I often say about various topics, we need to stop asking the people who are playing what they think about it and start asking the people who decide not to play how they view the entrance. This is a point Alex Wice made on X:
I’m with Alex. This is not bringing anyone to the game. If anything, it’s attracting more self-promoters (think YouTube prankster behavior) and turning the typical recreational player away, as most people aren’t interested in watching a 50-something super-wealthy nerd make a cringey entrance to a poker tournament.
Stray Thoughts
In this week’s feature column, I’ll relay my thoughts on the $22 million in gambling losses by an ex-Jacksonville Jaguars employee. As I mentioned on X, this story raises several questions and could wind up being the straw that breaks the camel’s back when it comes to the rollout of sports betting in the US.