There are already $4.2 million reasons to like casing sports betting – theday.com

The Day's Brian Hallenbeck explained it Friday here in AMUMO (America's Most Underrated Media Outlet.)

Poor guy. Not only was his story about gambling revenues awash in mathematics, but also interspersed with "gross gaming revenue," "federal excise tax" and other concepts that make me wish I paid harder attention in school.

But the crux of the story: In its infancy, online casino gaming and sports betting generated $4.2 million for the state in November.

Some perspective. The state's operating expenses were last reported at $15.61 billion, thus making $4.2 million in revenues the apocryphal deck chair off the Titanic. But it's a start.

Now I get there will be hand wringing about the perils of gambling, where all the money is going, who gets to spend it, etc. This is Connecticut after all. Or as our guy Tom Dudchik on "Capital Report" (Sunday morning, Ch. 8) calls it "Corrupt-icut."

But I find this good news. There is much more potential here.

Generally, I've found that most people still don't know that an "app" isn't simply mozzarella sticks anymore. It's a downloadable thing on your phone now and makes betting convenient. Or they are scared of online betting. Or they are staying out of the casinos for COVID-related reasons. Or they're overwhelmed by the multiple Draft Kings and FanDuel betting options.

Time has this wonderful way of providing clarity, however.

Once this gets easier, and we've had a year of online betting through the NCAA Tournament and next football season as well those numbers will swell. I'm no economist, but I think we can all agree that revenue is good.

Remember: New Jersey's first year of sports betting revenue in 2018 was $11,597,775. By 2020 it was $50,891,397. We can expect our numbers to increase as well.

Here are this week's best bets:

Chuck Banning: (San Francisco -8.5 at home against Atlanta). "East coast teams going west, especially this late in the season, rarely fare well, plus I love the way the 49ers have been playing of late."

Ned Griffen: (La-Lafayette -5 vs. Marshall). "Ragin' Cajuns' is one of the coolest nicknames in sports and the school is a little over 30 minutes away from Avery Island, the birthplace of Tabasco pepper hot sauce. You've come to the right sharp for keen gambling insights."

Gavin Keefe: Tampa Bay (-11 vs. New Orleans). "Sixty-five year-old Tom Brady chugs his usual pregame drink of Gatorade and prune juice and then throws four TD passes while sitting in a rocking chair."

Vickie Fulkerson: Texans (+3 at Jaguars). "I was just typing the words 'why does Urban Meyer still even have a job, when I read that Urban Meyer no longer has a job as coach of the Jaguars. This gives the Jags a better chance, but I'm still going with the Texans."

Dave Davis: (BYU (-7) over UAB). "Couldn't tell you anything about either team. Just like that they both have three letters and two of them are the same. And BYU has produced more NFL players than UAB."

Mikey D: Indianapolis (-2 over New England). OK. I realize this will run afoul of aggrieved Pats fans everywhere. But remember: You bet lines, not games.

So think about it: Who in their right mind bets the Colts? The Pats have been anointed as The Team To Beat again. Belichick has two weeks to prepare. And they're actually getting points from somebody that might not even make the playoffs? The public will bet New England with both hands. The public is usually wrong. The line says go with the Colts.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro

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There are already $4.2 million reasons to like casing sports betting - theday.com