First New Jersey Results Show Sports Bettors Are Better in Vegas

(Bloomberg) -- Early sports wagering numbers are in from Delaware and New Jersey, and they suggest America’s newest gamblers aren’t very good.

New Jersey, which took its first legal sports wager at Monmouth Park on June 14, released data Thursday on its first two weeks in operation. The state’s sports books kept 7.8 percent of every bet, earning $1.2 million on $15.3 million in total wagers on completed events.

Delaware’s books, which went live on June 5, reported about $7 million in wagers in their first 19 days, and so far they’re keeping 14.3 percent of that. It’ll be less as bets get paid out; unlike New Jersey, Delaware reports bets on future events as cash currently on the books.

In Nevada, the only other state where sports gambling is legal, casinos keep a smaller share because the bettors are savvier. Nevada casinos, for example, kept 5.1 percent of the money wagered on sports in 2017.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum

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