Issues surrounding sports betting in Washington DC has always been controversial. First, the issuance of a gambling license to Intralot resulted in a lawsuit. There, it was claimed that Intralot got its license without bidding. Next, there were questions raised on the operations and ownership of the company. However, things somehow still pushed through. And now, the firm is the single-source provider of sports betting in the state. But the now-legal sports betting industry in Washington DC sparks disbelief over its operations.
A lot of online sportsbooks would use bookie pay per head solutions to be able to provide their customers with easy to access odds that people can bet on anytime, anywhere. GambetDC, the Washington DC’s lottery betting platform has the same goal. This platform was supposed to be launched last March. But, due to the pandemic and the shutting down of sports leagues, this was postponed.
Sports Betting Industry in Washington DC
Those who are planning to have their sportsbooks up and running are already setting theirs up through the help of a bookie pay per head provider. The sports industry is slowly moving towards reopening or resuming their respective 2020 seasons. We are seeing some games scheduled for June and July already. As for GambetDC, they already launched their platform last May 22. However, their offerings raised a lot of eyebrows and caused disbelief at the lines offered.
For instance, in the UFC event for Saturday, Louis Smolka is +200, while Casey Kenney was -278. If you compare them with other sportsbooks, you can see the lines go as much as +220 for Smolka and -270 for Kenney. Their Week 1 NFL lines are at -118, when more sportsbooks would offer -110 at the spread.
Single Player Market Problems
This is a common problem with monopolies in gambling markets. Sportsbooks become complacent that because they are the only player, they think that players will have no choice. They think that the public will believe that their odds offer good value, and that they should go place their wagers. However, there are hundreds of sportsbooks online that can give competitive rates. Pay per head providers alone have hundreds of bookies who use their software. For instance, if you look at a PricePerPlayer review, you will see that the functionality of their software makes it easy for anyone to create their own software. Which, of course, leads to many sportsbooks propping up online.
With the many available sportsbooks online, and with better betting odds offered, Washington DC residents will be less inclined to place wagers on GambetDC. Especially when the odds they offer are really not that attractive for the betting market.
