Launch Day
How to really take advantage of being able to FINALLY...LEGALLY...bet on sports in Massachusetts
Hey. How are you?
I’m good, thanks for asking.
Big day in Massachusetts. After years of dragging their feet needlessly and watching millions of dollars in legal sports bets drive right out of Massachusetts and into New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island - State Lawmakers say today at 10AM you can legally bet on sports in the Bay State.
Which is awesome! Betting! Sports! Wooooo! #letusbet
Now, you’ll have to do it in-person at one of three locations.
Starting today you can legally bet on sports at Encore Boston Harbor, Plainridge Park (Barstool) Casino and MGM Springfield.
Later in the year Raynham Park is set to open a mammoth sports book with Caesers, with Suffolk Downs likely to launch sports betting in some form later this year as well.
If the launches in other states across New England are any indication it will be choppy at first. Machines that don’t work. People can’t find certain bets they want. Long lines of people trying to place their first-ever bet. It will be messy. And then eventually it will get better.
This has happened everywhere. Be prepared.
I don’t want to downplay today’s event(s). Betting on sports is fun. It’s great that Encore has a huge marketing budget to bring in former athletes and celebs to promote their launch. Makes for cool PR events, tweets and TV standups. If that’s your thing - neat.
But if you’re reading this… well you’ve likely been betting on sports for a while now and unlikely to stop your current process to start driving to a casino to bet just because Julian Edelman told you to.
But that doesn’t mean this isn’t great! Meeting up with friends to watch and bet on the game…sportsbooks full of people sweating out sides, totals and prop…just stopping to place a bet on the way to the Garden.
All good. Should have been in place years ago.
Today is a good day.
So how do you - the sports bettor - take advantage of it? Beyond placing some local bets over the next few months and having a good time? Simple -
Start planning for mobile sports betting right now. Like today.
Tentatively … again TENATIVELY … mobile sports betting is set to launch here in Massachusetts sometime in March. As in you’ll be able to bet from your couch and not on-site at a casino
There are folks on the gaming commission who have stated publicly - and I can tell you privately as well - that the current timeline might be aggressive (shocking, I know, from this State). So we’ll see about March in March.
Right now you have three options to bet sports in MA. You’re going to have 11 mobile sports book options to choose from later this year. That’s a lot.
Some independent and not tied to casinos - like Draftkings. Others like Barstool Sportsbook tied directly to Plainridge.
Across New England sportsbook choices are kinda limited. New Hampshire you have one. Rhode Island …one. Connecticut - you get two choices there.
Massachusetts … eleven.
There are a few very important reasons why you should have multiple mobile accounts to bet on sports. The one we need to focus on today is why I decided to write this post.
Free money.
Sportsbooks hope that once they have you as a customer you’ll ONLY bet with them.
So they offer sign-up bonuses to reel you in. These will come in all shapes and sizes. “Sign up bonus.” “Welcome bonus.” “First time deposit bonus.” All of them mean free money or free bets in some form for you.
These will be aggressive offers - some so good they’ll only be available at launch. And there will be a tidal wave of marketing and advertising trying to get you signed up in the next few months.
So how do we take advantage?
Put money aside now so that when it comes time to say - deposit $100-$200 on as as many as eleven different sports books in March - there is no sticker-shock. I get it - that’s a lot of money. Especially for unemployed radio guys. But the best deals for you - the sports bettor trying to find every edge possible - they’ll be at launch. So you need to be prepared. Physically or mentally setting that money aside now sets you up to best take advantage.
Even if you’re not going all in - you should still be prepared to deposit on three or four books. That might mean setting some money aside now.
When the books start the roll-out of these bonuses (there will even be pre-registration bonuses) - make sure you look at them closely to see what is best for you, what the rules are etc. And make sure you read the fine print on any sports book you sign up for.
It sounds simple - and for many with the means it might not even be necessary. But sports betting is hard. If you’re trying to maximize your bankroll you have to be ready for launch in March to take advantage of these offers.
You can decide for yourself down the road which book is best for you. That’s for later. For March - I’d be prepared to sign up for them all and take their free money ,bets. etc.
Even if this all sounds like a a lot and you’re just going to sign up with one mobile sports book - if this post gets you to shop around for the best offer - well then it was worth it.
By the way - some of these offers might stink and not be worth it to you. That does not mean you should not be prepared.
All these deals will be different so for a second time - READ THE FINE PRINT.
There are plenty of other reasons to have more than one mobile account for sports betting (the biggest being line-shopping which is a must) - but for today focus on two words.
Free money.
If this comes across like Sports Betting Dad advice, I get it. But we have enough hurdles to navigate as it is trying to bet on sports. Take advantage of the bonuses while you can. And of course, gamble responsibly.
See you in the sports book soon,
MM
I'm waiting until online betting kicks in. Sounds like mobile won't be ready until after March Madness, which would be too bad. First day online is live will feel like Christmas.