table games and sport betting in delaware

[fire5222]

NEWARK, Del. (WBOC/AP)- Gov. Jack Markell has signed legislation legalizing sports betting, making Delaware the only state east of the Mississippi River to allow wagering on sports.

Markell signed the bill into law Thursday at Delaware Park in Newark. Officials say they expect to have sports betting running in three months and table games such as poker, blackjack, craps and roulette, in play in no more than six months.

The sports lottery is key to Markell's plan to address a projected shortfall of more than $600 million for the coming fiscal year, but sports betting could face a legal challenge by professional sports leagues.

The sports lottery is a competitive advantage for Delaware that simply is not available elsewhere," Markell said. "We think there's going to be a lot of interest."

Delaware is facing a $778 million shortfall for the 2009-2010 budget year. Officials conservatively estimate sports betting will generate $50 million for state coffers this year. There are no revenue estimates yet available for table games because the state has not yet determined what its take will be.

"We want to be a number one destination," said William Rickman, owner of Delaware Park. "I think you want to be a full-service location. This augments what we offer here."

Delaware is one of only four states, along with Nevada, Montana and Oregon, grandfathered under a 1992 federal law that bans sports gambling.

[mxrider]

A friend of mine pointed this out to me the other day. As one that lives in MD, we just got slots approved with the hope that Poker will be coming down the line. With this passing in DE, I am hoping that it will force the action forward faster although our gov. has claimed that he does not want to be in a "gambling" race with DE. WV recently allowed table games as well so now the revenue that they were hoping to bring from slots is going to be cut way short imo as people can go to a full "casino" in just an hour or so. It will also make it likely that I will play live poker more often since I won't have to travel all the way to Atlantic City

[mxrider]

BTW, welcome to the site!

[mojo6911]

In Texas, we had legislation on the table to legalize poker rooms using those electronic poker tables, but our governor said he would veto any bill that had it on there. I hate the religious right.

[Silverthunder]

Originally Posted by mxrider

A friend of mine pointed this out to me the other day. As one that lives in MD, we just got slots approved with the hope that Poker will be coming down the line. With this passing in DE, I am hoping that it will force the action forward faster although our gov. has claimed that he does not want to be in a "gambling" race with DE. WV recently allowed table games as well so now the revenue that they were hoping to bring from slots is going to be cut way short imo as people can go to a full "casino" in just an hour or so. It will also make it likely that I will play live poker more often since I won't have to travel all the way to Atlantic City

Delaware would be closer than AC for you so at least it sounds like things are moving in the right direction. In Philadelphia, DE wold be closer for me, too, so yay!

How do you find the tables in AC? I haven't played there since I was a donk in 2008, and that was just for a few hours.

[Silverthunder]

I hear the sports betting in DE hit a brick wall for those that did not know..

[mxrider]

Originally Posted by Silverthunder

Delaware would be closer than AC for you so at least it sounds like things are moving in the right direction. In Philadelphia, DE wold be closer for me, too, so yay!

How do you find the tables in AC? I haven't played there since I was a donk in 2008, and that was just for a few hours.

I've only been twice and both times played pretty much the lowest limit games as I didn't have much to play with. The games were uber soft (been a while for me as well) but I don't expect that to change much.

[Silverthunder]

Originally Posted by mxrider

I've only been twice and both times played pretty much the lowest limit games as I didn't have much to play with. The games were uber soft (been a while for me as well) but I don't expect that to change much.

I hear you. The rake can just be so high, though. Plus, they want to play full ring. The last time that I was there, they took $1 out on the flop, $1 out on the turn, and $1 out on the river. And I thinik sometimes they would take more out on the river if it was a big pot, though I am really not sure. IN $1/$2 with all these limpers, they are small pots (relatively speaking). More the reason to play the online holdem style A lot of the time you are also expected to tip the dealer when you win a pot & sometimes even more than $1. So those are some of the things that turn me off about AC.