Uncategorized Archives - Page 10 of 18

Written By JR Duren on March 16, 2022

Grants Pass Downs Pivoting Plans After ODOJ's Latest Decision

Dutch Bros Coffee founder Travis Boersma is going to have to pivot his plans for Grants Pass Downs.

This comes in light of the Oregon Department of Justice‘s (ODOJ) new legal opinion this month.

The recent opinion deals a significant blow to Boersma’s plans. He’d have liked to have added 225 historic horse-racing (HHRs) machines to Grants Pass Downs, Boersma’s Southern Oregon horse track.

In the opinion, ODOJ chief counsel Renee Stineman said HHRs are games of chance. Therefore, they are outlawed unless run by the Oregon Lottery.

“We determine that the machines are games of chance that do not afford players any meaningful opportunity to exercise skill,” Stineman wrote. “As a result, we conclude that they are lotteries. Lotteries are constitutionally prohibited in Oregon, unless they are run by the State Lottery. Thus, the HHRs cannot be authorized by the Commission.”

Why are HHRs an issue?

Historic horse-racing terminals are slot–style games that allow players to bet on real horse races that took place in the past.

The races are unidentifiable, so horses and jockeys are unknown. However, HHRs give players odds and stats on each horse’s past performance.

In Oregon, HHRs were legal, in part, because lawmakers considered them a game of skill. Bets are based on real horse races. Players don’t have to fill out a card to bet on the race, but they have the option to do so. Stineman took aim at HHRs that provide an auto-handicap feature that allows the machine to pick your cards.

“The player lets the machine make the selections for them, using the odds established on the day the historical races were actually run,” Stineman wrote in her brief. “We understand this is the more commonly used option. It involves no skill whatsoever—the machine picks for the player. In fact, the player is not even shown the day-of-race odds; rather, the machine has internal access to that data and ranks the horses for the player.”

Furthermore, Steinman notes, the information that players get about a race is randomized. Two players betting on the same race may get completely different information about horses and odds.

Oregon DOJ concludes HHRs would turn Grants Pass Downs into a casino

Because HHRs are games of chance more often than not, the ODOJ’s office asserted that placing them at Grants Pass turns the track into a casino. Casinos are illegal unless they’re operated on tribal land.

“These machines are electronic games of chance with no meaningful relationship to traditional parimutuel racing wagers,” Stineman wrote. “Concentrating 225 of them on a dedicated gaming area would create a space that is predominantly used for gambling and is readily recognizable as a casino.”

Furthermore, she noted, because HHRs are games of chance, they do not fall under the state’s allowance for parimutuel racing. As such, they must be operated by the state’s lottery.

What’s the fallout from the ODOJ’s decision?

Many of the state’s federally recognized tribes will no doubt be thrilled by the ODOJ’s decision.

In an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) earlier this year, Justin Martin, a member of and lobbyist for the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, said HHRs could impact the tribe’s revenue by $6-$12 million a year.

“It’s not new revenue that will be coming in here,” Martin said, referring to where HHR revenue will come from. “This is redistributed revenue and I think that’s a very important concept to look at.”

For Boersma, the ODOJ decision is obviously a disheartening one. He told OPB that the state’s tribes could take advantage of HHRs by being investors in the Grants Pass project.

Boersma continued that his goal in this is to build metaphorical bridges between the state, his company, and the tribes.

“And I have been…willing to have conversations with tribes and how this could be a difference-maker,” he said. “I’m doing this to be a bridge-builder for the state, to be a bridge-builder for tribes and to really be a force for good.”

Written by

JR Duren

View all posts by JR Duren

Written By JR Duren on March 14, 2022

Best strategies for March Madness bracket building

Brackets and March Madness. It’s the perfect pairing but, ironically, it’s hard to get the pairing perfect.

The odds of picking every matchup correctly are one in 9.2 quintillions if you do a coin flip to make your picks. And if you make your picks based on your knowledge instead of chance? One in 120.2 billion.

In other words, picking the perfect bracket is impossible. However, picking a bracket that can beat out your friends or coworkers? That’s a different story.

Here are a few strategies you can use to fill out your bracket for optimal winning during March Madness in Oregon.

Use the seed-by-seed historical win percentages to pick upsets

Every year, there are upsets that bust brackets after the first day of games. But exactly how often do these upsets happen?

That’s a question the average basketball fan can answer: with simple percentages. Here’s a breakdown of the odds of each seed advancing to the second round:

9 over 8: 50.69%
10 over 7: 39.5%
11 over 6: 37.5%
12 over 5: 35.4%
13 over 4: 21.5%
14 over 3: 15.3%
15 over 2: 6.3%
16 over 1: 0.7%

Using this data, you can draw some pretty straightforward conclusions.

There are four of each seed in the tournament. If around 50% of 9 seeds and around 40% of 10 seeds win every year, on average, then you can pick two 9 seeds and one 10 seed with relative confidence. The same goes for your 11-6 and 12-5 matchups.

Once you get to the 13 seed, things are dicier. On average, fewer than one 13 seed each year wins a first-round matchup.

There have been five tourneys over the past 20 years in which no 13 seeds won. There have been four years in which two 13 seeds got a win. And there are 11 years in which one 13 seed has won.

You’re looking at roughly a 50% chance that one 13-seed wins, and a 20% chance that two 13 seeds win.

The story changes with the 14 seeds, though. Over the past 20 years, only nine of 80 teams with the #14 seed have won, which is around 11%. The odds drop even lower with the 15 and 16 seeds.

What does historical win percentage reveal? That you should avoid picking upsets by 14 seeds and higher and be very careful about choosing your 13 seeds.

Use the average upsets per tournament method

If you don’t want to roll the proverbial dice with percentages, you can take a simpler approach to build your bracket: look at the average number of upsets per round.

Here’s the average per-year data from the NCAA:

Total upsets per tournament: 12.4
First-round upsets: 6.2
Second-round upsets: 3.7
Sweet 16 upsets: 1.7
Elite Eight upsets: 0.5
Final Four upsets: 0.2

These numbers reveal that upsets represent around 10% of outcomes in the first three rounds, then drop off considerably in the Elite Eight and Final Four.

Using this data, you could simply select six upsets in the first round, four in the second, two in the Sweet Sixteen and none in the Elite Eight and Final Four.

Just remember that, because the NCAA tournament has been around for decades, there is some variation in the data. For example, there were only two first-round upsets in 2007 but 10 in 2016.

It may help to pair the average-upsets-per round metric with the per-seed winning percentages. For example, if you are going to pick six first-round upsets based on win percentage, you might choose two 9 seeds, then one team each from the 10, 11, 12, 13 seeds.

Use RPI to predict win totals for 15 teams

RPI, or “rating performance index,” is a metric the NCAA Selection Committee used to use when ranking teams for the tourney.

The metric has its detractors, but, in general, RPI can be a reliable way to predict the number of wins a team will get in the tourney. Here’s a breakdown of average wins per tourney based on RPI ranking from 2010 to 2017:

#1: 2.75 wins
#2: 2.5
#3: 3.00
#4: 3.25
#5: 2.63
#6: 3.38
#7: 2.00
#8: 2.38
#9: 1.75
#10: 1.13
#11: 1.38
#12: 1.00
#13: 0.71
#14: 2.88
#15: 1.00

These numbers reveal some fascinating trends. First, the team ranked 13th in RPI averages less than one win a tournament, which makes them a prime candidate for a first-round upset.

The RPI #6 wins the most games, on average. Seed-wise, a sixth-ranked team in RPI would, in theory, be a #2 seed. And #2 seeds have a relatively easy path to the Sweet Sixteen since they have around a 40% chance of playing a #10 seed in the second round.

Focus on second-round upsets

If a bracket isn’t busted after the first round, there’s a good chance it can self-destruct in the second round.

To avoid that, look at the upset data. According to the NCAA, over the past 36 years, the six seed has beat the 3 seed 29 times. Here’s a rundown of the rest of the upset frequencies in the second round:

7 over 2: 26
10 over 2: 18
11 over 3: 18
8 over 1: 14
12 over 4: 13
9 over 1: 6
13 over 5: 3
14 over 6: 2
15 over 7: 2

Based on these numbers, the rules for the second round are:

Pick at least one #2 seed to lose in the second round
Never pick a 13 seed or higher to advance to the Sweet Sixteen
If you’re going to pick a #1 seed to lose, choose an 8 seed to do the deed, not a 9.

Pick the high seeds to go to the Final Four and Championship

There have been 144 teams that made it to the Final Four since the tourney went to 64 teams in 1985. Of those 144 teams, 119 teams (around 83%) have been a 1-4 seed.

So, if you’re playing the odds, your Final Four should only be made up of 1, 2, 3, or 4 seeds.

If you want to pick an upset, your best chances lie with picking either an 11 or 5 seed, as they’ve accounted for around 10% of Final Four teams.

Who should your Final Four winners be? Here’s what the historical numbers reveal about the seeds that make it to the finals:

1 seed: 50% of teams in the final
2 seed: 25%
3 seed: 25%
4-8 seeds: 25%

The takeaway: Your championship game should have at least one #1 seed. After that, it’s a toss-up. As for picking your champion? History says the 1 seed is the favorite, as they’ve won 23 of the last 36 finals.

The 2 seed has won five titles, the 3 seed has won four, and seeds 4-8 have won four.

Photo by Shutterstock

Written by

JR Duren

View all posts by JR Duren

Written By Frank Weber on February 28, 2022

College Sports Betting May Be In The Near Future For Oregon

While legalized online sports betting is spreading throughout the country, each state seems to have different rules and regulations than one another.

Like in New York, you can’t bet on any college game that:

Has a college that is based out of NY
Is taking place in the state

With those rules in place, New York is attempting to nip any type of gambling scandal in the bud. Oregon, which is on the other side of the country, took things a step further and prohibited sports betting on any and all NCAA events.

However, a new bill that is currently being considered by the Senate Rules Committee could change that for Oregon online sports betting.

Senate Bill 1503

According to the Oregon State Legislature website, the summary for Senate Bill 1503 is pretty simple:

“The Oregon State Lottery may conduct games in which the distribution of prizes is based on the outcome of sporting events organized by, sponsored by or played in connection with post-secondary institutions of education.”

The bill comes into hearing with a pair of amendments already attached:

No betting permitted on the performance of an individual athlete (no player prop bets)
Direct Net proceeds all go towards funding the Oregon Opportunity Grant program, which is the state’s largest grant program for college students.

Benefits of Senate Bill 1503 for Oregon

The main benefit of Senate Bill 1503 would be the attack it makes on illegal gambling websites.

Since Oregon does not offer legalized college sports wagering, NCAA football and basketball fans may have turned to illegal offshore websites to place their bets. Senate President Peter Courtney agrees, saying:

“Illegal betting can be dangerous for Oregonians…These illegal websites are not regulated and can expose (gamblers) to potential fraud or theft.”

In addition, the directing of net profits going towards the grant program would have a significant impact on education funding.

Courtney feels that the estimated new revenue could lead to up to 3,000 new grants for college students. “This will stabilize and permanently fund Opportunity Grants in a very powerful way,” Courtney says. “This is a major source of funding in the millions of dollars.”

The opposition to sports betting

Groups that oppose gambling expansion of any kind in Oregon have also been in opposition to this bill.

Many in opposition express more possible comfort with the movement if Oregon picks up similar prohibitions as New York– allowing betting on college sports, but only on schools outside of Oregon.

The University of Oregon, as well as Oregon State University, said that they are neutral on the bill. However, if it does pass, they strongly favor a ban on individual college-level prop bets.

Another strong form of opposition comes from the Native American Tribes in Oregon. These Tribes have the capability of offering some sort of college sports betting to the masses. They can only do so on their reserved land, but the fact remains — if it becomes fully legal, it is taking money out of the tribe’s pockets.

Justin Martin, the representative of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, says these tribes are already being “inundated” by gambling expansion. Allowing fully legalized college sports betting would just deepen the wound.

Martin proposed a task force to study the effects of legalized college sports betting before its enactment. This idea was backed by Kitty Martz, the executive director of Voices of Problem Gambling Recovery, as well.

“We’re becoming widely known in the gambling industry as the wild west, where anything goes with gambling in Oregon,” she said in response to this proposed amendment.

It’s unclear as to whether or not this amendment will be passed. We will be sure to follow it closely as things unfold.

Written by

Frank Weber

View all posts by Frank Weber

Written By JR Duren on February 1, 2022 – Last Updated on February 28, 2022

Oregon Trailblazers Woes Continue But Playoffs Are In Reach

Glory days, these are not.

The Portland Trail Blazers are struggling through their worst season since 2012, a development that comes as a disappointment after eight straight trips to the NBA playoffs.

First-year head coach Chauncey Billups is trying to right the proverbial ship, and the Blazers are struggling to play solid defense.

Vegas and the Oregon sportsbook have taken note. The Blazers are at +24000 odds to win the Northwest Division, and they’re at +18000 to make it to the NBA Finals.

Despite Portland’s troubles, though, the team still has a chance to grab the final Western Conference playoff spot.

Defense and road woes contribute to poor record

Chief among the reasons why Portland is facing an off-year is the team’s defense. The Blazers have the third-worst defensive rating in the league.

Relative to the rest of the league, the Blazers are amid their worst defensive rating since the 2005-2006 season.

The Blazers have been terrible on the road, too, with just a 6-15 record away from home through 48 games. Through early-December, the team’s road opponents had a combined 118-93 record, and Portland was struggling in several key areas when playing away from home:

Net rating: Worst in the NBA
Defensive rating: Worst in the NBA
Three-point shooting: 21st

If there’s any hope for the Blazers to salvage their season, they need to improve their road performances. And to this point in the calendar year, they have.

The team has gone 5-4 on the road through the first month of 2022. Three of their losses came to the Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets, and Chicago Bulls, who are all jockeying for playoff positioning.

Trailblazers have played relatively well in Lillard’s absence

The Blazers started 2022 in a foreboding way. Damian Lillard was sidelined with an abdominal injury on Jan. 3, then underwent surgery for the injury on Jan. 13.

He hasn’t played since Dec. 31. At the time, Lillard’s injury seemed like a death knell for an already struggling team.

However, Portland has fared relatively well in Lillard’s absence. The team has gone 7-6 so far in January.

Anfernee Simmons has stepped up as the team’s go-to scorer, notching seven games of at least 20 points. His statement game came on Jan. 3, when he scored 43 points against the Atlanta Hawks.

NBA Playoffs are still a possibility despite a rough start

As the Blazers look ahead in February, sports bettors in Oregon hope they can scratch back to .500 and fight for a playoff spot.

Over the next two weeks, Portland faces the lowly Magic (11-40) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (15-34) once each. The Blazers also have two important dates with the reeling Los Angeles Lakers (24-27), who enter February with the ninth-best record in the Western Conference.

If the Blazers can go 7-7 or 8-6 over their next 14 games, their March 5 showdown with the Minnesota Timberwolves could be crucial. Minnesota currently sits seventh in the West with a 25-25 mark.

Photo by Master1305 / Shutterstock.com

Written by

JR Duren

View all posts by JR Duren

Written By JR Duren on February 4, 2022 – Last Updated on February 28, 2022

Oregon Sports Betting: NBA's Trailblazers Vs. Bucks

The Portland Trailblazers are looking for a little boost and a lot of luck when they square off against the Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow at 10 p.m. at the Moda Center.

The Blazers have lost five of their past six games and are clinging to the 10th seed in the Western Conference. A win over the Bucks, who hold the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

A win to provide a much-needed jolt of confidence to a team that’s struggling to find their identity without star Damian Lillard.

In a post-game press conference after the Blazers’ 99-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this week, coach Chauncey Billups summed up what the Blazers faithful have felt all season. The team just can’t seem to break through and get momentum.

Billups said:

“There were some really big moments but we just couldn’t get over the hump. A missed shot here. A turnover here….so we just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Maybe not the most exciting game for sports bettors in OR, but here’s a review for the upcoming mid-season game.

Blazers vs. Bucks: what to expect

Two factors working against the Blazers as they look ahead to their game with the Bucks. Poor performances in their past seven games and a bottom-three defensive rating.

Portland has won one game in their past six, a 125-110 victory over the lowly Rockets. The six losses have been decisive losses, save for a two-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That streak doesn’t bode well for the Blazers, as the Bucks have won five of their last seven. The two teams seem to be headed in different directions this season. The Bucks, a lock for a top-five seed in the playoffs and the Blazers scraping for a spot in the play-in round.

Also of concern is the Blazers inability to muster an efficient defense. The team’s defensive rating is the third-worst in the league. Meanwhile, the Bucks have a top-10 offensive rating.

The Blazers haven’t beaten an opponent with a top-10 offensive rating in nearly a month. And have only won four games against those opponents since Nov. 30.

Oddsmakers negative on Portland’s rest-of-season chances

The outlook for the rest of the Blazers’ season isn’t looking too optimistic. DraftKings has Portland as a +50000 long-shot to win the title, no surprises there. And a +20000 underdog to win the Western Conference.

And, because Rip City has virtually no chance to chase down the division-leading Utah Jazz, the DraftKings moneyline for the Blazers to finish as division winners is +100000.

As for how many games the Blazers will win by the end of the season, DraftKings has set the line at 35.5. If that line holds and the Blazers hit the under, it will be the first time in the past season the team will finish with less than 35 victories since the 2012-2013 season.

Coincidentally, that’s the last time the Blazers didn’t make it to the postseason.

Integral in the Trailblazers miserable outlook for the rest of the season is Lillard’s absence. The star underwent abdominal surgery on Jan. 13.

The team will assess his recovery in six to eight weeks. Should Lillard return in six weeks (around the end of this month), the line for the Blazers‘ win total will likely move.

Photo by KaiMook Studio 99 / Shutterstock.com

Written by

JR Duren

View all posts by JR Duren

Written By JR Duren on February 16, 2022

Indian tribe receives opposition from Oregon residents for its plan to build a new casino in North Salem

It’s not looking good for a new casino in North Salem.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) held a meeting recently. The meeting took comments from the public regarding the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians’ plans for a new casino in OR.

The plan for this new 180,000 square-foot casino just off Interstate 5 in North Salem includes:

4-star hotel
Event center
Restaurants
Nightclub
Sports bar

The verdict? People are not happy, and there are many reasons why.

Grande Ronde tribe says a new casino would hurt their casino

Among the most outspoken critics of the Siletz tribe’s casino plans was the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The tribe’s Spirit Mountain Casino is about 30 miles away from the proposed Siletz casino site.

As such, the Grande Ronde is concerned that a new casino would woo customers away from Spirit Mountain. For example, North Salem residents that have to drive 30 minutes to Spirit Mountain wouldn’t have much incentive to go there if there’s another casino two minutes away.

In a statement to local news station KGW, Grande Ronde Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy said the proposed North Salem property would be a disaster for Spirit Mountain.

Kennedy wrote:

“It would devastate Spirit Mountain Casino [and] impact Grand Ronde’s ability to care for its membership. [It would] open the floodgates for private gaming throughout the state. An expansion of gaming in Oregon, like what we’re seeing with the Flying Lark proposal in Southern Oregon, would devastate all of Oregon’s tribes who rely on casino revenue to support their communities.”

After the Grande Ronde made their case against the North Salem casino, the Siletz tribe issued their statement, saying:

“We are disappointed with the Grande Ronde’s opposition to our Salem Casino Project. And their false narrative about how the Casino will deter revenue from existing Oregon casinos and hurt other Tribes. These statements are simply untrue. The mission of The Siletz Casino Project is just the opposite. We intend to share revenue of the property with all Oregon Tribes.”

Siletz tribal attorney Craig Dorsay told KGW that the tribe will only receive 25% of the casino’s revenue. Another 25% of net revenue would go to the state.

And the remaining 50% would be split between the state’s other eight federally recognized tribes.

A statement in early January from the Siletz tribe noted the revenue-sharing model. The tribe noted that the proposed casino would be the first to share its revenue with other tribes.

The statement noted:

“The purpose of the proposed Siletz Casino Project is to facilitate tribal self-sufficiency. [And] Self-determination and economic development, thus satisfying the principal goal of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The Tribe expects to generate $185 million in annual revenue in the first year of operation. Growing to $231 million by the third year.”

What’s next in the process?

The BIA will now take time to consider the public’s comments along with an environmental assessment of the casino. The BIA can conclude that the casino will have no significant impact.

Or that it needs to do more work on the assessment, or prepare an environmental impact statement.

From there, the casino proposal will have to gain the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. After which the Secretary of the Interior will then give their recommendation to the governor.

And finally, the governor will then have one year to accept or reject the casino proposal.

Photo by JPL Designs / Shutterstock.com

Written by

JR Duren

View all posts by JR Duren

Written By JR Duren on February 10, 2022

Stan Kroenke moved the Rams to Los Angeles and built a massive fortune on the NFL franchise

Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke is worth $12.5 billion. And about $4.7 billion of that massive chunk of change comes from the Rams franchise.

Kroenke took ownership of the team in 2010 when it was worth $750 million, and since then, he’s seen his football team’s literal fortune explode by more than 600%.

In that time, Kroenke moved the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles and built a massive, state-of-the-art stadium that will be the site of this year’s Super Bowl.

How big of a deal is $4.7 billion? It makes the Rams one of the five most valuable franchises in the league, and, as of 2021, it’s more than twice the value of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise.

How Kroenke turned a small fortune into a superpower

Kroenke bought the Rams in 2010 when the team was in St. Louis. At that time, the team was putrid; an absolute doormat.

From 2007 to 2009, the team won a total of five games. It went 1-15 in 2009. Gone were the days of the Greatest Show on Turf, when superstars like Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk won and went to the Super Bowl twice from 1999 to 2001 and won the championship in 1999.

Kroenke’s first two years as owner were the definition of up and down. In 2010, the team went 7-9 and the following year it went 2-14.

After four more losing seasons, Kroenke announced he was moving the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles. It was a contentious move. On the one hand, the move was a homecoming for L.A., where the Rams played from 1946 to 1994.

On the other hand, it was a heartbreaker for St. Louis. Kroenke’s decision was not a popular one, and drew the city’s ire, as evidenced by the 2016 Letter to the Editor sent to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“Kroenke had the choice to side with kind and kin and help build the city he claimed to love, but instead deserted it and in turn made the decisions to become a traitor and one of the most hated people in the history of St. Louis.”

The move turned out to be a smart one for Kroenke, a Missouri native who said the decision wasn’t an easy one. The team is now one of the most valuable ones in the league and the Rams are in the Super Bowl for the second time in four years.

Since moving to Los Angeles six years ago, the team has had as many seasons with double-digit wins–four–as the Rams had in the 26 years leading up to the move.

DraftKings odds say the Rams are the favorite to win Super Bowl LVI

Kroenke would likely say that his $4.7 franchise is worth nothing if he can’t bring the Lombardi Trophy to Los Angeles.

If the oddsmakers at DraftKings are any indication, Kroenke won’t’ be disappointed. The Rams are the Super Bowl favorite on at -200 odds. The spread is 4.5 points, and the over-under is at 48.5.

DraftKings is running a pair of boosted bets ahead of the Big Game:

+600: Bengals win, Joe Burrow throws for more than 260 yards, and Ja’Marr Chase catches a touchdown
+500: Rams win, Matthew Stafford, throws for more than 290 yards, and Odell Beckham Jr. scores a touchdown

DK is offering hundred of bets ranging from simple moneyline wagers to multi-player prop bets, single-player props, and cross-sport props, where bettors can wager on an outcome in the Super Bowl and an NBA player’s performance.

Photo by Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Written by

JR Duren

View all posts by JR Duren

Written By Marian Rosin on February 9, 2022

Prop bets for Super Bowl LVI provided by Oregon sportsbooks

What are prop bets?

I just bet the dog that you would read this Super Bowl article all the way through to the end.

That’s a prop bet. It’s not based on who wins and who loses a game, which would be a regular sports bet.

“Prop,” when used in “prop bets” regarding sports competitions, stands for proposition bets. Not to be confused with “props” as in “propers” — slang for respect that’s earned and due, like in the Aretha Franklin classic tune. Nor like “props” in the theater and movies.

Prop bets generally involve small stakes and small bets. They can happen while a game is actually going on. Skilled prop bets rely on knowledge of things like player abilities and statistics. Fun prop bets are…fun, and sometimes downright silly.

How to make a Super Bowl prop bet in Oregon

Considering football contributed $9.70 million to Oregon’s +40% handle jump in September 2021, it’s a reasonable bet that there are a good number of Oregonians who might want to wager on the Super Bowl.

Also, factor in the more than 300% jump in newly registered online sports bettors in September alone.

Bettors can make sports wagers in Oregon:

Through the Oregon Lottery & DraftKings
Via the retail sportsbooks at tribal casinos Chinook Winds Casino Resort and Spirit Mountain Casino

Prop bets and the Super Bowl

One of the most popular Super Bowl prop bets is, “Who will be MVP?”

Now obviously, if it were a year when Tom Brady was playing in the Big Game, almost everyone would likely put their money on him. After all, he was named MVP five times.

But Tom Brady has announced his retirement. Yes, it’s true. And there is no Santa Claus. Sorry.

Quarterbacks have taken the MVP title more than any other position in the Big Game’s history — 31 times in total. And it may be counterintuitive, but the MVP doesn’t even have to come from the winning team.

That only happened once, though, in 1971’s Super Bowl V (also known as the “Blunder Bowl”), when Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley took the award even though his team had lost to the Baltimore Colts.

And in Super Bowl XII, Harvey Martin and Randy White shared the MVP title.

According to NBCsports.com on Jan. 31, the Rams’ Matthew Stafford ranked on that date as the favorite to be named MVP this year, with the Bengals’ Joe Burrow coming in second.

Brobible.com concurred on Feb. 1, with odds at:

Matthew Stafford (-110)
Joe Burrow (+210)

Flipping for it

Another very popular Super Bowl prop bet is “Who will win the coin toss?”

The Super Bowl coin toss decides which team gets the ball in each half.

With the coin toss, everyone, including the dog, has— arguably, it seems— a 50-50 chance of guessing correctly. Taking that as true, though, for our purposes here, even if the NFC has won the coin toss the last three years, that in no way guarantees or even slightly suggests the AFC will win or not win it this year.

To think otherwise is known as “the gambler’s fallacy.” Statistics won’t give anyone an edge in deciding whether to bet heads or tails; nor will a Magic 8-Ball.

That’s why you might see the coin toss odds listed like this in sportsbooks:

Heads: +100
Tails: +100

Foxsports.com calls the pregame coin-toss wager “the purest of all sports bets.”

The color of the Gatorade bath/shower received by the winning coach has proved a consistently popular Super Bowl prop bet, too.

Props for props

Other Super Bowl prop bets may currently include:

Who will lead at halftime?
Will the game go into overtime?
Who will score the first touchdown?
Will any player other than a quarterback throw a touchdown pass?
Will there be a safety?

Wagerers can even place prop bets on the halftime show, including:

Who will perform first?
How many songs will be performed?

Photo by Beto Chagas / Shutterstock

Written by

Marian Rosin

Marian Rosin is a freelance writer who has been published in Upnest and Psychology Today. Rosin brings experience in the gambling sector as the senior copywriter for Isle of Capri casinos.

View all posts by Marian Rosin

Written By JR Duren on February 4, 2022

Sports bettors in Oregon can put their money on the Ducks for NCAA title

March Madness is drawing near, and between the Oregon State University Beavers and the University of Oregon Ducks, it looks like oddsmakers think the men’s and women’s teams for the University of Oregon have the better shot at an NCAA Tournament title.

The latest odds from FanDuel put the Ducks women’s basketball team at +4000, and DraftKings puts the men at +7000.

The Oregon State Beavers women’s team is projected to sneak into the tourney and carry +10000 odds, while the men’s team is in shambles and has very little chance of making it to The Dance.

Here’s a breakdown of the Beavers and Ducks NCAA teams for online sports gamblers in Oregon.

Oregon Ducks women’s basketball: +4000 odds

The Ducks closed out their 2021 season with a run to the Sweet 16. The team dispatched South Dakota in the first round and upset No. 3 seed Georgia in the second round.

They fell to Louisville 60-42 in the Sweet 16. The run was an encouraging one after a 2019-2020 season in which star Sabrina Ionescu lead the team to a 31-2 record.

However, the NCAA canceled March Madness, robbing the Ducks of a chance to win a title with arguably the best team in school history.

This season, the Ducks have fought their way to a 12-5 record and are second in the Pac-12 with a 4-1 conference record. They are ranked 19th in the nation in the Associated Press Poll.

ESPN’s Bracketology has the Ducks as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Oregon Ducks men’s basketball: +7000 odds

The Oregon men’s basketball team faced the same fate as the women’s team in the 2021 NCAA tournament. The Ducks entered the tourney as a No. 7 seed, advanced from the first round after VCU forfeited, then upset No. 2 seed Iowa to get into the Sweet 16.

However, the Ducks fell to Pac-12 opponent USC, 82-68.

The Ducks are sitting on a 12-7 record and are fourth in the Pac-12. They’re unranked, but received a few votes in the latest AP Poll.

The Ducks are clawing for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Ducks as the last team in.

OSU Beavers women’s basketball: +10000 odds

Last season was a bit of a disappointment for Oregon State’s women’s team. The Beavers exited the tournament in the second round after reaching the Sweet Sixteen twice, the Elite Eight once, and the Final Four once in the previous four seasons.

Chalk it up to bad luck–the Beavers haven’t caught a break, losing to a No. 1 seed in four of their past five March Madness appearances.

This season, the team is 9-5 and sixth in the Pac-12 with a 2-2 conference record. The Beavers are unranked and listed as the first team out in ESPN’s bracketology.

However, the Beavers hope that freshman sensation and leading scorer Talia von Oelhoffen (13.8 ppg) can carry the team to the NCAA tournament.

OSU Beavers men’s basketball: +50000 odds

Just one season removed from a Cinderalla-style run to the Elite Eight in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, the Oregon State men’s team has only won three games and is 1-6 in conference play.

Barring a miracle run in the Pac-12 tournament, DraftKings oddsmakers believe the Beavers have virtually no chance of making it back to The Big Dance.

Photo by John McCoy / Associated Press

Written by

JR Duren

View all posts by JR Duren

Written By Darren Cooper on January 27, 2022

After going live with its online sportsbook in New York, DraftKings Inc. became the new official provider of the Oregon Lottery on January 18. Subsequently, it is the only legal mobile sportsbook in the Beaver state.

DraftKings is adding one coast to the other

DraftKings replaced the previous Scoreboard app used by Oregon players on January 18. Previous Scoreboard players were able to create a new account and rollover their funds to the DraftKings sportsbook. Furthermore, any open bets were carried over.

“DraftKings is thrilled to embark on this journey with the Oregon Lottery as we build out a coast-to-coast presence with our top-rated online sportsbook for these fans to experience ahead of the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl,” said Paul Liberman, co-founder and President of Global Technology and Product in a statement announcing the move on the DraftKings web site.

“The Oregon Lottery shares our innovative spirit as one of the most progressive organizations in the real-money gaming sector, and together we look forward to delivering the exceptional online sportsbook products that Oregonians have been anticipating.”

Exclusivity is the name of the game

The deal with the Oregon Lottery gives DraftKings its second exclusive agreement with a state. In fact, it had originally begun the partnering process with the New Hampshire Lottery in 2019.

“We’re excited about the improved experience for our players – including the ability to make same game parlay bets. DraftKings is a premier provider in the US,” said Barry Pack, Director, Oregon Lottery. “We see benefits for Lottery too, as the shift to DraftKings means fewer third-party service providers and a simpler financial structure for player accounts.”

There had been discussions of Oregon switching online providers before the OLC (Oregon Lottery Commission) voted to switch from the Scoreboard app to DraftKings last August.

Oregon set up its first sportsbook in Sept. 2019 at Chinook Winds.

“The DraftKings platform is a lot more familiar to regular US sports betting,” Pack told reporters in August. “The SBTech platform was more of a European design.”

Oregon’s legislation is still hesitant

Oregon still does not allow betting on college football or basketball. As a result, this issue could come up at the next scheduled legislative session which begins Feb. 1.

According to a recent story on oregonlive.com, the Oregon State Lottery is the second-largest source of revenue in the state after income taxes. Additionally, the legalization of sports wagering adds millions in revenue.

DraftKings is already live in 15 other states, including Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. All those states allow wagering on college games.

As part of its deal with the OLC, DraftKings additionally reaffirmed its commitment to responsible gaming. They stated that Oregon betters will have access to tools to limit deposits, alongside mandatory cool-down periods and other self-restrictions.

Big win for the Oregon environment

Furthermore, DraftKings is concentrating on various environment efforts in Oregon. The company worked with the Arbor Day Foundation to fund the planting of 1 million trees by Earth Day 2022 hoping to impact 15 states and nine countries.

Specifically in Oregon, the company has sponsored the planting of 110,000 trees to aid with fire suppression efforts.

These efforts are part of the DraftKings S.E.R.V.E.S. program that champions a better world and work environment.

Photo by Shutterstock.com/Wirestock Creators

Written by

Darren Cooper

View all posts by Darren Cooper

Why are HHRs an issue?

Oregon DOJ concludes HHRs would turn Grants Pass Downs into a casino

What’s the fallout from the ODOJ’s decision?

Related Articles

JR Duren

Use the seed-by-seed historical win percentages to pick upsets

Use the average upsets per tournament method

Use RPI to predict win totals for 15 teams

Focus on second-round upsets

Based on these numbers, the rules for the second round are:

Pick the high seeds to go to the Final Four and Championship

Related Articles

JR Duren

Senate Bill 1503

Benefits of Senate Bill 1503 for Oregon

The opposition to sports betting

Related Articles

Frank Weber

Defense and road woes contribute to poor record

Trailblazers have played relatively well in Lillard’s absence

NBA Playoffs are still a possibility despite a rough start

Related Articles

JR Duren

Blazers vs. Bucks: what to expect

Oddsmakers negative on Portland’s rest-of-season chances

Related Articles

JR Duren

Grande Ronde tribe says a new casino would hurt their casino

Siletz tribe fires back and emphasizes revenue sharing

What’s next in the process?

Related Articles

JR Duren

How Kroenke turned a small fortune into a superpower

DraftKings odds say the Rams are the favorite to win Super Bowl LVI

Related Articles

JR Duren

How to make a Super Bowl prop bet in Oregon

Bettors can make sports wagers in Oregon:

Prop bets and the Super Bowl

Flipping for it

Props for props

Related Articles

Marian Rosin

Oregon Ducks women’s basketball: +4000 odds

Oregon Ducks men’s basketball: +7000 odds

OSU Beavers women’s basketball: +10000 odds

OSU Beavers men’s basketball: +50000 odds

Related Articles

JR Duren

DraftKings is adding one coast to the other

Exclusivity is the name of the game

Oregon’s legislation is still hesitant

Big win for the Oregon environment

Related Articles

Darren Cooper