Monthly Archives: June 2020

RBC Heritage betting lines have McIlroy on top

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The PGA Tour’s return from a three-month coronavirus-related absence went off without a hitch last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas – although it was noticeable that some players out of habit waived to fans after making a putt; there were no fans in attendance.

Daniel Berger won the Charles Schwab Challenge in a playoff and also will be in the field this week (+3300 to win) as the Tour shifts to Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for the RBC Heritage. Normally, this is one of the more “casual” events on Tour because it is played the week after the pressure-packed Masters (while the winner at Augusta gets a green jacket, here he gets a plaid jacket) and thus most top players skip the RBC Heritage.

However, this is anything but a normal PGA Tour season so the tournament will have arguably its best field ever with each of the world’s Top 5 teeing it up. Current world No. 1 Rory McIlroy hasn’t played this tournament since 2009 when he was 19 but is a +1200 favorite. Former world No. 1 and current No. 3 Brooks Koepka never has and is +4000.

Pennsylvania online gambling does heavy lifting for shuttered casinos

Pennsylvania’s online gambling revenue continues to take some of the sting out of the state’s shuttered land-based casino market.

Figures released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board show the state’s online gambling licensees generated revenue of just over $55.8m in the month of May, up 30% from $43m in April, which was the first full month of pandemic-related casino closures.

May’s revenue total was more than twice the $24.3m the state’s online casino/poker licensees generated in March of this year (and the state’s cut of May’s revenue was just under $24m thanks to its absurdly high slots tax rates). However, few will be able to overlook the fact that May’s overall revenue figure was 79% below May 2019’s total, back in those halcyon pre-cootie days.

May’s online slots revenue totaled $38.8m, up from $27.3m in April, while table games improved by $1.9m to $12.4m. The state’s lone online poker operator (PokerStars/Mount Airy Casino) reported revenue of $4.6m, down from a record $5.25m in April. Interestingly, New Jersey’s online gambling market also posted an online poker record in April and a slight decline in May. (Like Homer Simpson, it appears poker players have only just remembered how boring this game is.)

Ireland’s bookmakers ordered to close just 24 hours after reopening

Ireland is messing with the minds of its retail bookmakers, ordering them to close their doors just 24 hours after they reopened following their extended COVID-19 closure.

On Tuesday, Flutter Entertainment’s Paddy Power brand and GVC Holdings’ Ladbrokes brand each announced they were shutting their betting shops in the Republic of Ireland. Both companies had opened their shops on Monday following what they thought was a ‘good to go’ signal from local authorities.

All Irish betting shops were closed in mid-March to minimize futher COVID-19 transmission. In late May, as Ireland’s infection curve flattened, the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) announced that its members’ shops could reopen on June 29. This launch date was subsequently advanced to June 8 but most major bookies didn’t reopen until this Monday (15).

Paddy Power issued a statement to RTÉ saying it had reopened its shops on Monday “in line with other bookies in Ireland, following the government guidelines on reopening of retail outlets.” The statement added that after opening Monday, “we became aware of a government specification that bookies should open on June 29,” prompting the company to shut its doors once again.