Q:
The last time we ran this poll was in April 2018, a month before the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, paving the way for the legalization of sports betting in 19 states currently, plus Washington, D.C., and including Tennessee, where it started up on November 1. Another three states — Virginia, North Carolina, and Washington — have passed bills legalizing it this year, but are not yet operational. And three more states — Maryland, Louisiana, and South Dakota — voted to legalize sports betting in this election.
So we’re curious what the effect of the explosion of wagering on sporting events has had on your gambling habits over the past two and a half years. These are essentially the same choices we ran in 2018, updated for current conditions, with a few suggestions from the poll preview incorporated.
A:
288 Total Votes
| I bet on sports when I'm in Las Vegas, but only for fun. |
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| I never made a bet on a sporting event before the Supreme Court decision and I haven't since. |
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| Sports betting is not legal in my state. |
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| Even if I understood more about it, I still wouldn't bet sports. |
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| I don't understand sports betting at all. I have no idea what a pointspread is, or a money line, or a parlay. If I understood it better, I might take some shots. |
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| I won't make a special trip to a casino just to make a sports bet. |
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| Luckily, I live in a state that has a mobile sports betting app, so I can do so at home. |
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| I don't want to have to go to a casino, either in Las Vegas or my home state, to bet sports; I want the Supreme Court to open up online sports betting in the U.S. and internationally. |
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| I bet for fun when I'm in a local casino that has a sports book. |
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| Now that sports wagering is legal and available in my state, I will look into it and consider it. |
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| I rarely bet on sports in Las Vegas, because of the red tape in collecting if I win, but have already left town. I'm much likely to bet in a sports book that's closer to home, since collecting is so much easier. |
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| I’m a professional sports bettor who’ll travel anywhere I can get the best of it. |
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| I'm a professional sports bettor who, through various methods, can bet online as much as I like, and I don't have to travel anywhere to do so. |
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Analysis
The number of respondents (or lack thereof) and the top vote-getters indicate that, contrary to popular belief and the astounding bet handles and revenues accruing nationwide these days, sports betting still hasn't caught the fancy of the vast gambling public (at least not among our readers).
We didn't anticipate that nearly 40% of voters would be mostly negative about the activity, though we did suspect that the top vote-getter would probably be those who bet sports for fun in Las Vegas. After all, sports betting has been legal here forever and it was the only place to make a legal bet on a sporting event up until only a couple of years ago. So the majority of visitors could bet only when they were here, and mostly did it for fun.
We were especially interested in the two people who claim to be pros. Less than 1% of the general population earning their living at sports betting seems about right to us.
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