WarHorse Casino Lincoln opened its first sportsbook on June 22nd, making Cornhusker State the 34th state to launch legalized sports betting. This exciting development now allows Nebraska sports betting enthusiasts to physically place their wagers.
Long Time Coming
Voters approved sports betting at the ballot box in November 2020 and Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts signed the retail sports betting bill into law in May 2021. However, it took over two years of hammering out the rules and regulations governing retail sports betting in the state to finally manifest.
And on June 22nd the wait was finally over as the WarHorse Casino in Lincoln began churning out sports betting tickets through its betting windows and kiosks located in its sportsbook.
“The WarHorse Casino in Lincoln, Nebraska, has announced their new sportsbook will officially open this Thursday (June 22nd). This will be the first legal sportsbook to open in the state, officially adding them to the list of states where some form of legal sports betting is available. The new sportsbook will feature a sportsbook window and ten kiosks, with plans to grow the space more.
“Nebraskans have been asking for the opportunity to wager on sports since the ballot initiatives were passed in 2020,’ Ho-Chunk Inc. CEO Lance Morgan said of the launch. “We’re thrilled to be the first casino in the state to offer sports betting.’”
“Bettors will be able to place wagers on a wide variety of sports and events, much more than just the major sports,” Morgan added.
WarHorse Sports Betting App’s All-in-One Guide
Although online sports betting has yet to be licensed and regulated in Cornhusker State, there is a WarHorse sports betting app that allows customers to peruse point spreads, and moneyline odds, and navigate a variety of other features.
However, the app does not allow the users to place bets and customers must be present at the sportsbook to make their wagers. Nevertheless, the app can facilitate wagering and expedite the process as it allows customers to sign up on the app and create wagering slips from anywhere.
Once this is done, customers can click submit once they are on the premises of the WarHorse Casino and a QR code will be assigned to their betting slips that can be scanned and processed quickly once they are on site. This is intended to decrease congestion at the betting windows and kiosks inside the sportsbook.
No In-State School Betting
The retail sports betting law that was initially signed allows casinos and racetracks within the state to take sports bets but the WarHorse Casino was the first to get its act together. The law does not allow betting on in-state colleges and university athletic programs like the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Creighton Bluejays. Wagering on Olympic sports or international soccer is also not on the betting menu at this time.
A 20% tax will be levied by the state on gross gaming revenue and most of that money will be earmarked to the state’s Property Tax Credit Fund. Several other retail sportsbooks are poised to enter the market but many of those properties seem to be in no rush to join the fray.
However, if an online betting bill does get passed at some point in the future, it is likely these land-based casinos will have direct access to the digital market.
Gaming giants like BetMGM, Caesars, FanDuel, and DraftKings to name a few, are often required to be tethered to the land-based casino and racinos located within the state which would be a financial boon to those properties as mobile betting dwarfs retail sports betting by an average of 90% or more.
*Bookmakers Review will continue to monitor this story and update our readers as events unfold.
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