I've been meaning to write about this subject for two weeks...really, I have. I've monitored the situation and was ready to rejoice with happiness, only to find out that no matter what the state of Delaware wants to do about sports gambling, the feds say no. Here is your contradiction of laws: Delaware is grandfathered in to be able to include sports gambling in their state, yet this (according to the U.S. Court of Appeals) won't be happening because it violates the federal ban on gambling (set in 1992). This ban doesn't hit Nevada because at the time they already HAD sports gambling and therefore WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!
You can see how this circle goes around while the gambling man simply wants to know if it is for real. Just as you run to the board to see if you can lock in 99-2 odds on a dog once the odds are posted, you want to believe things are in your fortune. You have to act now before things change.
Former Pacific Gold writer Steve Simpson and I spent some time wishfully discussing the possibilities of Delaware sports gambling. These discussions didn't include how it would help Delaware's economy (if it would at all). Nor did it cover if said gambling would hit Atlantic City's casinos in an adverse way. It was all about if this would lead to easier and less shady online gambling.
When I heard that the U.S. Court of Appeals shot the blue hen down, I could see the thinking: do we want The Message in our state? Do we want an influx of Mad Dashs and Froggy types, never changing their clothing and betting on any race or game they can get their hands on? When you start thinking as those characters do, you'd better have a lot of money. In Las Vegas, I once turned to Steve and said "Well...what games are left on the board? Army in basketball? You know that's an under." We had the fever, we gambled with no study at all, and we lost. That was a one day goof. These are people who do it daily, and no, you don't want those people around.
And, unless you're able to bounce around LV, online gambling is your only choice. Personally, correct wagers or not, I feel my money will disappear with mystery - not unlike playing Mega Millions because you could walk out with a quarter of a billion dollars. Or, you're at LAX paying a fee that is so confusing if you refuse, you can't fly.
Delaware is still moving forward all the same. With a budget deficit as large as California, why wouldn't they? They need fast cash, and this is always an easy alternative. The state lottery says it's moving forward...casinos there are quickly creating makeshift sports books with giant screens. (I'm positive these will look better than the majority of "sports books" in downtown Las Vegas). The parlays will continue.
Still, with this news, and Time magazine's spot-on review of how Las Vegas fucked itself (they left out Binion's danceteria!), it leaves a lot of people in a daze. The economy hit a lot of people, as did the job market. The remodeling in downtown LV pushed away some of the sleaze for better or worse. And now, Delaware's news hurts our chances for legal, no BS online gambling. All a guy wants to do make some deals. And when the homework is done, the deal goes through, and actual cash goes in the pocket...well, that's Gold.
