The Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey took in nearly $3.5 million in sports bets during its first nine days of accepting such bets.
And most of that came from two weekends that sandwiched a dead period for major professional sports caused by baseball’s All-Star break Chris Jones Jersey , when there was little to bet on, with basketball and soccer World Cup over, and football and hockey months away from beginning their seasons.
Meadowlands operator Jeff Gural told The Associated Press it accepted just under $3.5 million worth of sports bets since it began taking them on July 14.
”We did OK,” Gural said Monday. ”Our goal the first weekend was to exceed $1million which we did. The next four days were quiet with nothing to bet on due to the All-Star break.”
This past Saturday, with baseball having resumed, the track took in over $650,000, and additional bets on baseball and other sports came in on Sunday.
Gural said he is pleased with the track’s initial performance ”despite the fact that we are not at full strength and only have 10 live tellers windows open.”
The FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands will be expanded. It is located in East Rutherford, in the same sports complex six miles from New York City where the NFL’s New York Giants and Jets play.
So far, two tracks, the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, and two Atlantic City casinos, the Borgata and Ocean Resort, offer sports betting in New Jersey. But many others have applied for permission to begin offering sports betting, in person and online Larry Allen Jersey , before the start of the NFL season in September.
Monmouth and the casinos reaped $16.4 million in the first two weeks of June.
New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case on May 14 clearing the way for all 50 states to offer legal sports betting should they so desire. It began offering sports betting on June 14.
The latest statistics on how much the casinos and tracks took in from sports betting will be released by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement on Aug. 14.
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LeBron James saved a game. Russell Westbrook and Paul George saved a season.
And now, Game 6 awaits them all.
A trio of possible series-ending games are on Friday night’s NBA playoff schedule: Cleveland at Indiana, Toronto at Washington and Oklahoma City at Utah. For the Cavaliers and Raptors, the scenario is they advance with a road win or head back home for Game 7 on Sunday. The Thunder don’t have such a safety net; they must win in Salt Lake City, or it’ll be the Jazz going to the second round.
James went from goaltending to game-winning in a matter of seconds in Game 5 on Wednesday night, his straightaway 3-pointer at the buzzer giving Cleveland a three-point win and a 3-2 series lead. Westbrook and George looked well on their way to summer vacation in their Game 5 matchup with the Jazz , before they combined for 54 points in a 61-28 Oklahoma City run that rallied the Thunder from a 25-point second-half deficit.
The stars carried the Cavs and Thunder.
The Raptors, they have a 3-2 lead thanks to a more unsung hero. Delon Wright was fantastic for Toronto in the fourth quarter of Game 5 against Washington , and the Raptors held serve by beating the Wizards to reclaim the lead in their series.
What James did was stunning in Game 5, and his final half-minute was memorable to say the least. He went from potential goat (turning the ball over, which the NBA said was a bad call) to hero (blocking Victor Oladipo’s layup, which the NBA later said was also a bad call and should have been goaltending) to hero by hitting the game-winner.
”He’s the best player in the world,” Cleveland’s Kyle Korver said. ”He’s on our team, he’s going to give us a chance every single night. We all have to do our part but he is that good.”
Oklahoma City was finished, done Demarcus Lawrence Jersey , ousted – except no one told Westbrook and George. Those players alone shot 20 for 35 (and 6 for 9 from 3-point range) in the final 20 minutes of Game 5 against Utah, while the Jazz shot 11 for 36, 1 for 16 from 3-point range. So a 25-point hole in the third quarter ended up as a eight-point win, and now Utah will inevitably feel pressure in Game 6.
In Toronto, Wright scored 11 points in the fourth as the Raptors pulled away.
Some other things to know going into Friday’s Game 6 matchups:
RAPTORS AT WIZARDS
Toronto leads 3-2. Game 6, 7 p.m. EDT, NBATV.
NEED TO KNOW: The Wizards have been so much better at home than on the road, winning eight consecutive playoff games in Washington, so pushing this to a Game 7 is not out of the question. But another fourth-quarter collapse like in Game 5, when coach Scott Brooks’ team gave away a lead and went more than 3 minutes without a point, could spell the end of what would amount to a disappointing season for the No. 8 seed Wizards. ”We’re having trouble closing out games in Toronto,” Brooks said Thursday at the Wizards’ arena. ”We’ve done a pretty good job of closing out games here.”
KEEP AN EYE ON: DeMar DeRozan. He has been the unquestioned star of this matchup for No. 1 seed Toronto, putting up 28.8 points and 5.0 assists, with three games of at least 30 points apiece.
PRESSURE IS ON: Washington’s trio of max-contract players. While PG John Wall has been mostly terrific all series, averaging 26.6 points Terrance Williams Jersey , 12.2 assists and 5.8 rebounds, his minutes (38.8) might be catching up to him. He faded late in Game 5, as did SG Bradley Beal, who was great in Games 3 and 4 at home, less so on the road. The biggest issue for the Wizards is a lack of production from their third-best player, SF Otto Porter Jr., who is scoring only 10 points per game and has made five 3s all series. As a whole, the Wizards need to be better from beyond the arc than in Game 5, when they went 5 for 26, 1 for 10 in the fourth quarter.
INJURY UPDATE: Porter sat out the last regular-season game with a strained right calf and his playoff problems could be connected to that. … The leader of Toronto’s second unit, PG Fred VanVleet, has played a grand total of three minutes in the series because of a hurting right shoulder.
CAVALIERS AT PACERS
Cleveland leads 3-2. Game 6, 8 p.m., ESPN.
NEED TO KNOW: When James gets a chance to land a knockout blow, he delivers. The last 11 times a James team has gotten to 3-whatever in a series Randy Gregory Jersey , it has closed out the matchup in its very first opportunity. That’s not a great sign for the Pacers.
KEEP AN EYE ON: How Indiana responds. It’s very simple – after the NBA’s Last 2 Minute Report on Thursday for Game 5, the Pacers can very easily get lost in how Oladipo’s layup should have counted. Would James have gone for a 3-pointer if the Cavs were down by two in that situation? The Pacers need to regain focus and not worry about what’s already done, since calls were missed both ways in that game.
PRESSURE IS ON: Oladipo. He’s had a great year, and will likely be the league’s Most Improved Player. And he’s had a strong first five games, as well. But if he’s going to be thought of as someone who’s gotten to that next level, staring James down and fending him off in an elimination game would probably help his cause.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: The Pacers are 27-2 this season when holding opponents under 98 points, and 2-0 in this series when that happens.
THUNDER AT JAZZ
Jazz lead 3-2. Game 6, 10:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN.
NEED TO KNOW: Westbrook finally broke out in Game 5 and took over. Oklahoma City got Utah post players Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors in foul trouble, allowing Westbrook to play his normal aggressive style. Westbrook scored 33 of his 45 p Adidas Jonathan Drouin Jersey