BY JOHN CROPLEY, The Daily Gazette
Photo by  MARC SCHULTZ, Gazette Photographer

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — The first legal bet of New York’s sports gambling era was placed Tuesday morning at Rivers Casino & Resort.

Beneath the wide video wall in the Sportsbook, a new parlor renovated specifically for the purpose, the crowd watched local, state and casino officials cut the ribbon on the line of windows.

Electronic message boards above listed the line on the day’s Major League Baseball games and a series of UFC bouts. Odds were offered on various teams winning Super Bowl LIV in February. (Things look grim for the Arizona Cardinals, at 125-1.) Contact information was displayed for a hotline for problem gamblers.

Sports gambling became an option at existing New York casinos after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. It is hoped that legalization will reduce the amount of money New Yorkers gamble on sports through illegal channels in the state or legally in other states were it had been allowed.

It took just 63 days to create the Sportsbook space.

“Nobody thought we could be open before football season, not a chance,” said Greg Carlin co-founder and CEO of parent corporation Rush Street Gaming.

That first kickoff is still several weeks away.

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