Dunlap: State Rep. Gets It Right With Sports Gambling – CBS Local

February 16, 2017 3:26 PM By Colin Dunlap

PITTSBURGH (93-7 THE FAN) Rob Matzie!

What a guy.

Hes a man after my own heart and certainly after the hearts of many who just want to place a couple bucks down on a game and dont feel the need to deal with a bookie or some seedy, off-shore racket.

I dont know much about politics. Actually, I dont know much about politics by choice its complicated, convoluted and Ive never had much of an interest in it.

All that said, I know this much, I can get behind State Rep. Rob Matzie if for nothing more than his logical stance on one thing.

He wants to bring sports betting to Pennsylvania.

And I ask, fundamentally, who would be hurt by this?

Who would suffer?

How would this be a bad thing in the least?

Seems to me, the only people who would be hurt by what Matzie wants to institute are the people acting crooked right now the illegal bookies and people of that ilk who make much of the profits in an industry that reportedly pulls in billions (largely illegally) in the United States annually.

You see, State Rep. Rob Matzie, who is from Ambridge, introduced legislation Tuesday to allow sports betting in all licensed casinos in Pennsylvania. Those include the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington County and the Lady Luck Casino at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Fayette County.

There are still a ton of hurdles at the federal level but, in truth, its a needed start.

To be 100 percent forthright, I have never placed a sports bet outside the state of Nevada. I save such endeavors for the sports books of Las Vegas, places that are heavenly to a sports fan.

The bright lights, the zillion screens, the beers and the action on everything - oh man, those sports book. They are a slice of utopia smack dab in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Thats why its so puzzling to me why I can walk into one of the aforementioned Pennsylvania casinos and see people gambling plopping dollar after dollar into slot machines or playing table games and I cant for the life of me understand why a college football Saturday cant be met with a $20 three-team parlay. I dont know. Im a person who can control myself, I set a budget, plan to lose all I bet and just have a little more fun when theres money riding on a game. Its that simple for me.

I envision a time on the way home from work when I can shoot into Rivers really quick on an autumn Friday and lay a few bucks on some college games for the following day and the NFL card on a Sunday. Man, that would be a wonderful way to add just a little spice to the weekend.

And, again, I would bet nominally, just well within my budget as a bit of a hobby thats why Im not seeing any problem with anything.

The bill Matzie introduced is expected to be assigned to the House Gaming Oversight Committee for future consideration.

But I ask, again if we are already gambling in Pennsylvania, wouldnt this just be the best thing going if we could add sports gaming here? I know Id love it.

Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 The Fan. You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.

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Mornings, 5:40 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Colin grew up in Sharpsburg and Aspinwall and attended Fox Chapel Area High High School. He graduated from West Virginia University and then came back home to write for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. While th...

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Dunlap: State Rep. Gets It Right With Sports Gambling - CBS Local