This week’s casino news starts off in Ohio where online casino gaming finally has a date on the calendar. Meanwhile, the New York online sports betting niche is showing healthy growth. We’ll get to New York in a moment, but let’s start in Ohio:
Ohio Online Betting Expected To Launch On January 1st
Gamblers in Ohio just got some great news. It’s been announced by the Ohio Casino Control Commission that online gambling will officially kick off on January 1st, 2023. People had been patiently waiting for the estimation of when the market is expected to launch and now it’s clear.
Ohio has been on a roll in terms of gaming, delivering all sorts of options to the state. Last year, Governor Mike DeWine signed a bill that legalized all online and in-person sports betting.
Ohio wasn’t taking much of a leap when it came to online sports betting. After all, both of their neighboring states Michigan and Pennsylvania legalized those recently. However, Ohio was the only one to start with just online sportsbooks. As it stands right now, online table games and slots aren’t yet authorized.
When the market finally launched, Ohio is set to have 40 retail sportsbooks alongside their 25 online sportsbooks. The OCCC has anticipated a large demand for licenses in the state as well, estimating that 3,000 applications will come to their doorstep.
New York Surpassed Tax Revenue Goals From Online Sports Betting
New York just recently launched mobile sports betting and the activity is already producing impressive numbers. In less than six months, the state has reeled in $267 million in tax revenue from sports betting. Mobile sports betting has brought in $263 million in that same span.
If that didn’t show how strong of a start they had, New York has picked up more revenue in this five-to-six-month span than other states have had over multiple years. For example, Pennsylvania brought in $253 in sports betting dating back to 2018. New Jersey is another example, bringing in $229 since June of 2018.
It has been confirmed by GeoComply that there are about 2.7 million unique player accounts in New York. All of which have been created since January of 2022. With all of those new accounts popping up, 620 million transactions have followed.
Pittsburgh Poker Room Jackpot Keeps On Growing
Bad beats definitely sting but in a certain Pittsburgh poker room, it could pay quite handsomely.
While it doesn’t happen often, the bad beat jackpot at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh has hit seven figures. The total rose up to $1,021,000 as of this past weekend. This is one of the largest growing bad beat jackpots in the history of live poker as well.
In case you’re not familiar with how the bad beat jackpot works, you have to lose with quad 10s or higher or else it won’t count towards the jackpot. Once a player at the table hits that jackpot, then that specific person will get 40 percent of the total prize. The winner of that hand will get 30 percent and the rest of the table will split the remaining 30 percent.
This particular jackpot has been able to grow so much lately because nobody has hit it in over a year. Some poker players in the community haven’t been appreciative of the bad beat jackpot, especially because the chances of actually striking it are so low. However, they do end up giving some unlucky players an incredible fortune. If you’re in the area, try it out and see if it’s your lucky day!