Author: Grant Lucas

Grant Lucas is a longtime sportswriter who has covered the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. A graduate of Linfield College in McMinnville, Grant has covered games and written features and columns surrounding prep sports, Linfield, and Oregon State athletics and the Portland Trail Blazers throughout his career.

OddsShark Website Pulls Plug On New Jersey Access After Regulatory Crackdown

After the Division of Gaming Enforcement sent a letter to OddsShark about its offshore sportsbooks, the website closed access to New Jersey residents.

The New Jersey crackdown on offshore sports betting has begun. And already, it appears, the state has begun seeing results.

Following a letter sent by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement earlier this month, the affiliate betting website OddsShark, which markets regulated and offshore sportsbooks, is no longer accessible by users with IP addresses in New Jersey.

Boiled down: The website that caters to popular illegal sportsbooks such as Bovada and BetOnline no longer reaches into New Jersey.

This marks a renewed interest of New Jersey pushing back on offshore sports betting sites. Five years ago, NJ issued a similar warning to Bovada.

DGE sends warning-filled letter to OddsShark

The DGE’s letter to OddsShark can be seen here.

It noted that the DGE reviewed the OddsShark website and noticed it promoted authorized NJ sports betting products alongside illegal platforms such as Bovada, BetOnline and 5Dimes, among others.

As such, the state warned OddsShark of potential repercussions if it continues to operate this way in New Jersey.

“This letter shall serve as official notice that your website, by offering unauthorized online gaming and sports betting links, is promoting activity that is contrary to New Jersey and federal law,” according to the letter dated Feb. 9.

“We request that you immediately remove any online gaming links that are not authorized under federal law or under the law of any State. The State of new Jersey reserves the right to pursue appropriate civil or criminal sanctions against you if you fail to take the requested actions.”

DGE letter hints at legal repercussions

In one of the first examples of a state with legal sports betting actually going after offshore wagering, New Jersey came out swinging.

The letter stated that the DGE “will not license or register any company that is promoting illegal sites, as this activity negatively affects that company’s good character, honesty, and integrity.”

“Additionally, the Division has instructed all New Jersey internet gaming and sports betting providers that they must cease doing business with any affilliate that promotes illegal gaming sites, regardless of whether the provider and affiliate are promoting New Jersey activity or activity in other jurisdictions.”

While the Garden State requested OddsShark either sever ties with those offshore books or cease operating in New Jersey altogether, the state also served a warning.

OddsShark, per the letter, “may be violating the criminal laws of the State of New Jersey.” It noted that the website could be committing racketeering and illegal promotion of gambling as examples. The DGE instructed all New Jersey casinos and internet gaming providers to cease doing any business with OddsShark.

“Additionally, the Division has also copied the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice on this letter so that it may consider taking appropriate legal action.”

OddsShark faces decision

OddsShark is not exactly a nobody when it comes to sports betting. Frequently, the platform is cited by various sports media when it comes to odds and lines.

But the DGE is not about to let that continue.

The letter cited a DGE Director’s Advisory Bulletin from June 2015, in which the division notified operators and affiliates to cut ties with any illegal partners lest they be eliminated from or prevented from joining the New Jersey market.

When it comes to staying afloat, offshore sportsbooks rely on marketing and promotion from sites like OddsShark. DGE is at least forcing OddsShark to make a choice between promoting legal or illegal options.

DGE director continues fight against offshore

David Rebuck, director of the DGE, has long had the illegal sports betting industry in his crosshairs.

Last fall, Rebuck told GamblingCompliance that if “I find out that you are actively engaged in doing illegal gambling in the United States, you’re barred.”

In July, at the East Coast Gaming Congress, Rebuck shared how he recognized that the regulated NJ online gambling industry was already “cannibalizing the illegal online gaming market.” NJ sports betting would chip away even more at the offshore industry.

He added that if he discovered platforms servicing the legal and illegal markets, “there will be significant consequences.”

Bovada, specifically, has remained at the top of Rebuck’s list. He related that gaming regulators were spending “an inordinate about of time” attempting to identify the company’s head honcho.

Rebuck recognized that illegal sportsbooks are “very good at what they do,” in terms of staying operational while remaining in the shadows.

But this letter, and the disappearance of OddsShark from within New Jersey, shows that the DGE, in cooperation with regulated operators and other state departments, can find ways to protect the legal sports betting industry from offshore activity.

Editor’s Note: NJGamblingSites.com is an affiliate website that promotes legal online sportsbooks, casinos and poker sites in New Jersey.

New Jersey, Pennsylvania Combine To Fight Against Latest Wire Act Opinion

In the letter, New Jersey and Pennsylvania’s attorneys general call out the DOJ for a “deeply troubling” opinion on online gambling.

New Jersey has finally responded to the latest Wire Act opinion made by the Department of Justice. And the state has Pennsylvania in its corner.

In a letter written Tuesday to acting US Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro expressed “our strong objections” to the DOJ’s opinion that state-sanctioned online gambling could become a federal crime.

That opinion, issued earlier in January, reverses the previous position of the DOJ that allowed online gaming.

“This about-face is wrong and raises significant concerns in our states,” the two state AGs wrote.

“We ask that DOJ withdraw its opinion altogether or assure us that DOJ will not bring any enforcement actions against companies and individuals engaged in online gaming in our states — where it is appropriate under state law.”

In addition, Grewal submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to “obtain critical information” about the opinion of the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC).

Specifically, Grewal wrote, “information relating to outside groups’ lobbying efforts urging the Department of Justice to reconsider this position.”

DOJ opinion ‘wrong’ and should be withdrawn

The letter explicitly expressed the “strong opposition” of both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“We can see no good reason for DOJ’s sudden reversal,” the letter said. “First, it runs contrary to plain language of the Wire Act. Second, DOJ has recognized that it should ’employ considerable caution in departing from … prior opinions,’ in light of the ‘strong interests in efficiency, institutional credibility, and the reasonable expectations of those who have relied on our prior advice.'”

It is this area in which the state attorneys general agree that the DOJ “acknowledges that states were relying on (the department’s) prior advice.”

Grewal and Shapiro noted that industries, such as NJ online gambling, developed their infrastructures based on the DOJ’s advice from eight years ago.

The DOJ “did not provide any intervening facts or information to justify such a major departure” from the 2011 opinion.

The department’s reversal, the letter concluded, “is wrong, and it undermines the values of federalism and reliance that our states count on.”

Latest Wire Act opinion vs. NJ online gambling

In the eight years since the DOJ issued its previous Wire Act opinion, state-sanctioned online gambling has taken off. Particularly in New Jersey.

Launched in 2013, NJ online gambling has generated more than $350 million in annual revenue and $60 million in gaming taxes, the letter said.

Additionally, annual state lottery sales hover around $3 billion and contribute about $1 billion to the state, making it the fifth-largest source of revenue in New Jersey.

Similarly, Pennsylvania rolled out its online lottery in May 2018. Since that time, iLottery generated $23.8 million in gross gaming revenue.

The Keystone State uses funds from lottery sales to benefit older citizens in the state.

Now, though, the DOJ says the “transmission of information relating to any kind of online wagering can violate federal criminal law.”

This includes interstate transmission of information that is “merely incidental,” according to the letter.

“The opinion casts doubt not only on traditional online gaming,” the letter said, “but also multi-state lottery drawings (such as Power Ball and Mega Millions) and online sales of in-state lottery tickets. While regulators and the industry are reviewing the full range of impacts this opinion may have, each potential implication is of concern.”

Among the implications listed in the letter include jobs, the health of Atlantic City, and state funds for the public good.

FOIA request also issued

Meanwhile, Grewal submitted an FOIA request seeking information as to whether lobbyists spurred the DOJ to reverse its opinion.

From the letter:

“Press reports … indicate that this new advice followed substantial lobbying by outside groups that have long been unhappy with the 2011 opinion — but who were unable to convince Congress of the merits of their view. That is not a good enough reason to trample over the law and states’ rights, and to upend the settled expectations on which we have been relying for nearly a decade.”

Grewal asked for expedited results and requested records addressing communications, consultations, or meetings relating to the Wire Act and online gambling, among other things.

Those records, per the request, should stem from a variety of sources:

  • Office of the Attorney General
  • Office of the Deputy Attorney General
  • Office of the Associate Attorney General
  • Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
  • Office of Legislative Affairs
  • Office of Legal Policy
  • Office of Public Affairs
  • Office of the Executive Secretariat

In addition, Grewal requested any information relating to “non-governmental actors or organizations” and “any organization or individuals in the Executive Office of the President.”

Such a request comes on the heels of a Wall Street Journal report that billionaire and longtime opponent of online gambling Sheldon Adelson was the major force behind the opinion’s reversal.

Fighting back against Wire Act opinion

The letter stands as the first official response of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Former New Jersey state Sen. Raymond Lesniak told Online Poker Report that he is willing to answer the call to help states stand tall against the DOJ opinion.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also offered his support of the letter.

“Our growing online gaming industry is a key component in revitalizing Atlantic City and strengthening New Jersey’s economy,” Murphy said in a statement. “This unexpected opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice not only jeopardizes the future of our casinos and gaming industry, but also threatens the jobs of thousands of New Jerseyans.”

“I am pleased to see that Attorney General Grewal is committed to challenging the Justice Department’s unreasonable interpretation of the Wire Act.”

Also chiming in was David Rebuck, director of the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement:

“New Jersey has regulated online gaming for five years and has developed the most successful regulatory model in the world. The State is fully committed to maintaining and ensuring the highest regulatory standards for New Jersey’s evolving online gaming industry, including the most recent addition of sports wagering.”

Grewal noted that the DOJ’s latest opinion “is wrong on the law and wrong for New Jersey.” For five years, since New Jersey introduced online gambling, the state “relied on the Justice Department’s promises to develop a strong online gaming industry that generates hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Now, Grewal added:

“With the stroke of a pen, the Justice Department is trying to take that all away. I’m committed to standing up for New Jersey and challenging this misguided opinion.”

Hitting Paydirt: Your NJ Online Sports Betting Extravaganza For Super Bowl 2019

Get into the Super Bowl 2019 spirit with a rundown of the odds, lines and prop bets available at DraftKings, FanDuel and SugarHouse NJ online sportsbooks.

Well, what do you know? Another Super Bowl featuring Tom Brady.

On Sunday, when the New England Patriots quarterback takes the field in Atlanta for Super Bowl 53, he will record his ninth appearance in the big game.

No team in league history has made that many appearances.

Against the Los Angeles Rams, Brady and the Pats will aim for a sixth Lombardi Trophy in a rematch of Super Bowl 36 in 2002. Fittingly, that game, won by New England, was the last time the Rams appeared in the Super Bowl.

The biggest game — nay, event — of the year is set to kick off. The two best teams (depending on your perspective) remain.

So, why not have the same approach for New Jersey sports betting?

For what will surely be the largest business day in the short history of NJ sports betting, the spotlight here shines on the state’s industry leaders: DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook and SugarHouse Sportsbook.

(All odds are as of Thursday.)

Add ’em to your NJ sports betting slip

Super Bowl 2019 lines

Shortly after the AFC and NFC championships were decided and the Super Bowl matchup was set, the Rams opened up as a 1-point favorite at many sportsbooks.

That line swiftly swayed toward New England, however. And it continues to push that direction. The Pats will be wearing white jerseys, which has done well in the past. Twelve of the past 14 champions wore white.

In addition to these lines, SugarHouse offers a market on the Patriots to win 20-17, which pays +10,000.

 DraftKingsFanDuelSugarHouse
Point spreadNE -2.5NE -2NE -2.5
Over/under56.556.556.5
MoneylineNE -137
LA +118		NE -132
LA +116		NE -139
LA +115

Parlays and props for all

Over the past six Super Bowls, five totals hit the over. Pairing with the moneyline, the over and a New England win pays +225, while a Pats victory and the under holds the same line. LA wins combined with either the over or under pays +290.

Additionally, DraftKings offers an overtime market, which goes for +900 should the game head to extra time. (On the flip side, no overtime holds a -2,000 line.)

The only Super Bowl ever to need more than four quarters: Two years ago, a Patriots win.

FanDuel set the first-quarter moneyline at -120 for New England to lead and +102 for the Rams. A Patriots lead would also lead to a +126 payout, as the opening-quarter spread sits at -0.5 in favor of the Pats. And a combined total over 10.5 points holds a +118 line.

For the game, FanDuel’s lines for total points to be odd or even sit at -130 and +112, respectively. Odd totals have occurred 30 times in Super Bowl history, though each of the past four and eight of the last 10 have been even.

Before kickoff, though, is the coin toss. Will the coin toss winner also win the Big Game? New England doing so pays +250, LA +300. The coin toss victor has also lifted the Lombardi Trophy 46 percent of the time.

SugarHouse allows bettors to take the game one quarter at a time. For example: Will New England (+175) or Los Angeles (+220) score in every quarter?

Two-point conversions apparently will be at a premium Sunday. The sportsbook projects that neither team successfully converts a 2-point attempt with a -278 line. Choosing yes, however, could lead to a +210 payout.

For what it’s worth, 2-point conversions have been attempted at least once in eight of the last nine Super Bowls. Not one was successful last year. In Super Bowl 51, New England went 2-2.

Even more props

This is where the game can really get fun.

Certainly, available are markets for which QB will finish with the most passing yards and which RB will rush for the most yardage.

But will either team score three unanswered times? A +175 line says “no” at DraftKings. The sportsbook also set an over/under at 2.5 for players who complete passes. The over goes for +190. (The over for 2.5 players to throw for a touchdown pays +1200.)

DraftKings’ over/under for jersey number of the player who scores the first or last touchdown sits at 26.5: +100 on the under for each market. A “Fat Man TD Special,” wherein any offensive lineman scoring a touchdown, holds a +8,000 line.

And what about when the 2-minute warning break occurs. Will it happen with exactly 2 minutes on the clock? First-half no pays +400; second-half no goes for +275.

At SugarHouse, the over/under on total coaching challenges sits at 1.5, with the over paying +275 compared with the -400 on the under.

Any field goal or extra-point attempt hitting the uprights or crossbar results in a +350 payday should a bettor take action in that market.

Of course, one of the most popular props surrounds the color of the Gatorade the winning team showers over its coach. At FanDuel, “clear” is the favorite at +100, followed by orange and yellow (+375 each), blue at +500, and red at +600.

Rams RB Todd Gurley provided some insight into what LA quenches its thirst with. But he has been known to not care about betting.

After all is said and done, will Pats coach Bill Belichick retire? Or Brady? Or TE Rob Gronkowski? The Belichick line, at DraftKings, pays +2,500 should he retire and -10,000 if he does not.

Brady calling it quits goes for +1,400 at FanDuel, and Gronk riding off into the sunset pays +400.

MVP! MVP! MVP!

Oh, it’s the last of the futures for the 2018 season.

Quarterbacks have claimed the Super Bowl MVP 29 times in history, and the only non-signal-callers to win the award since 2009 were linebackers. Heck, a running back hasn’t won it since 1998. Three receivers and a safety have done so since the last RB winner.

Anyway, SugarHouse offers a market for bettors to wager on which position will win the MVP, and QB is heavily favored at -286. A running back or fullback pays +500; a defender goes for +800.

Below are the top contenders, according to sportsbooks, for the Super Bowl MVP.

DraftKings SportsbookFanDuel SportsbookSugarHouse Sportsbook
Tom Brady +110Tom Brady +115Tom Brady +110
Jared Goff +200Jared Goff +190Jared Goff +200
Aaron Donald +1400Aaron Donald +1600Aaron Donald +1400
Todd Gurley +1400Todd Gurley +1600Todd Gurley +1400
Sony Michel +1600Sony Michel +1600Sony Michel +1600
CJ Anderson +2200James White +2500CJ Anderson +2200
Julian Edelman +2800CJ Anderson +3000Julian Edelman +2800
James White +2800Julian Edelman +3500James White +2800

Where else to bet online in New Jersey

As it has been well-documented, New Jersey features an array of mobile sports betting options.

To boot, the 10th and 11th mobile sportsbooks hit the Garden State airwaves this week, as Hard Rock Atlantic City soft-launched its online product followed shortly thereafter by Resorts Atlantic City rolling out its platform.

Now a double-digit crowd of sportsbook apps complement what is now 10 retail operations (again, Hard Rock upping that number) in New Jersey:

The list of NJ sportsbook apps includes a deep variety of traditional moneylines, parlays, in-game betting and futures.

NJ Online Gambling Has Taken Off, In Large Part Thanks To Out-Of-State Users

Geolocation pings via Geocomply reveal that many NJ online sportsbook customers are coming from populous regions along New Jersey borders.

No doubt, Lindsay Slader said, online traffic in New Jersey has “increased significantly” over the past year.

It stands to reason.

Sports betting in the state received the green light in June 2018. And since then, NJ sports betting has taken off, leading to $1.2 billion in accepted wagers since launch.

To boot, NJ online gambling has grown into a beast, setting state revenue records in each of the past three months, including an astronomical $29 million in revenue in December.

Picture a map of the Garden State, though. The hotspots of online wagers made do not start near Atlantic City and expand toward the borders.

Quite the opposite, according to Slader, VP of regulatory affairs for GeoComply, a geolocation company used to ensure gambling occurs within state lines.

Instead, Slader said in a phone interview, the overwhelming majority of online gambling occurs within 10 miles of surrounding state borders.

Map of NJ online gambling tells a tale

GeoComply performs geolocation for all NJ online gambling operators, including online casinos. The company, though, does not collect personal information like those operators, who request customer names, addresses and Social Security numbers, among other things to determine the eligibility of users to use those products.

Rather, to GeoComply, all users remain anonymous. They instead generate identification numbers, of sorts, that pop up on the geolocation map.

In theory, if one user uses DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook, that customer may be recognized as two users.

Regardless, what GeoComply has found still tells quite the story for online gambling in the Garden State.

According to Slader, approximately 80 percent of all geolocation hits in New Jersey — which activates when a user attempts to gamble online — land within 10 miles of the New Jersey border.

online sports betting nj
Courtesy Lindsay Slader, GeoComply

Further, Slader estimated that about 44 percent of users pop up within 2 miles of the state line.

As such, Slader said, “if an operator doesn’t have a suitable geolocation system” to allow for users to participate near the border, “then you can really lose out on a huge percentage of your market close to those borders.”

Customers coming from New York, Pennsylvania

Populous areas, such as New York City and Philadelphia, surround New Jersey. Within those dense crowds reside some of the most avid fan bases in America, a population who are champing at the bit to participate in sports betting.

Out-of-state customers making their daily commutes to work might place some wagers while traveling into New Jersey. Perhaps they divert from their routes to do so.

The New York Post recently provided an example of a Harlem resident who makes a 35-minute bike ride from home just to step foot in New Jersey to place a few bets.

“They’ll make the trip over,” Slader said, “walk over a bridge or hop on a train and stand in the station in Jersey City, then turn back around once they’re done placing their bets.”

According to Slader, customers near the state line are subject to more frequent geolocation. Some operators, she added, have bumped geolocation checks to earlier in the experience (upon user log-in, for example, or deposit) to allow for quick and accurate location.

FanDuel noted that 10 percent of its online customers claim New York as their home state. DraftKings gave the New York Post a similar figure. Additionally, 3 percent of FanDuel’s customers hail from Pennsylvania. A resounding 85 percent of FanDuel users live in New Jersey.

How competing markets could affect map

Customers frequently make quick trips by getting enough inside the New Jersey state line to participate in NJ online gambling.

“It’s very much part of the betting experience,” Slader said, “for people close to those borders.”

What happens, though, if New York gets its sports betting industry started? What happens now that Pennsylvania has launched its first operations? And what’s the effect when the state provides the go-ahead for online sports betting products in the spring?

Logically, it would seem, those near-border hits will decrease, right? Slader is not so sure.

“I don’t know if it’s going to change,” she said, “because we don’t know how the product will differ between the PA operators and the NJ operators and who the people are that we locate.

“Certainly for some players in PA who currently shuttle to NJ to place their bets, they may do so less frequently when they have easier options from their side of the border; but it may well be that the products are differentiated enough between PA and NJ operators that there is still some ‘shopping and hopping’ from players wishing to get the best of both worlds.”

Hitting Paydirt: NJ Sports Betting Turns Attention To BetStars-Studded NFL Championship Games

Who will be heading to the Super Bowl LIII? BetStars NJ sports betting has the odds for Sunday’s matchups between Patriots-Chiefs and Rams-Saints.

Welp, 520 games down. Three to go.

Only two weekends-worth of NFL games remain. And those two weekends promise to be filled with fireworks.

The two conference championships Sunday feature the four highest-scoring teams during the regular season: No. 1 (Kansas City Chiefs) vs. No. 4 (New England Patriots), and No. 2 (Los Angeles Rams) at No. 3 (New Orleans Saints).

All four averaged better than 27 points per game and field middling-to-not-so-great defenses.

In the NFC Championship, a rematch of a high-scoring Week 9 matchup, in which New Orleans held off visiting Los Angeles 45-35. In the AFC Championship, a grudge match of opponents from Week 6, when New England edged past Kansas City 43-40 in Foxborough.

To boot, NFL postseason history’s third-largest age gap among starting quarterbacks (New Orleans’ Drew Brees, 40, and LA’s Jared Goff 24) and the league’s largest age gap (New England’s Tom Brady, 41, and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, 23).

Stories abound. Super Bowl LIII awaits its entrants.

But we’re not here for stories. We’re here for sports betting.

As such, the attention of NJ sports betting turns to BetStars NJ and the odds on top for Sunday. (All point spreads and moneylines are as of Thursday.)

Add ’em to your NJ sports betting slip

Los Angeles Rams (13-3) at New Orleans Saints (13-3)

History does not favor the NFC West champion Rams.

Each of past five conference winners hosted the NFC Championship, setting up the Saints for their first conference crown since 2009, which, incidentally, was the last time the franchise appeared in the game.

Earlier this season, in New Orleans’ 10-point win, Brees threw for 346 yards (211 to Michael Thomas) and four TDs (to four different players) while RB Alvin Kamara rushed for 82 yards and two scores.

Goff had a solid game in his own right, with 391 yards and three TDs, while RB Todd Gurley II, his one TD notwithstanding, was limited to 68 yards rushing.

As they have been for the majority of the second half of the season, the Saints enter as favorites, by three points, while an outright win by the Rams pays +150.

For consideration: When Gurley rushes for a touchdown, which he’s done 18 times this season, the Rams hold an 8-2 record. At BetStars, users can cash in on said achievement via the platforms Odds Boost, as a Gurley TD coupled with a Rams victory pays +250.

The same payout stands for if Gurley rushes for more than 100 yards and a score, which he’s done five times this season, including last week. (Forewarning, though, that Gurley has not done so in consecutive weeks since 2015.)

Additionally, a Saints win paired with either a Kamara TD or a Thomas TD pays +110 and +140, respectively. New Orleans has gone 7-1 (the lone loss coming in the season opener) when either happens.

Among the other Odds Boosts, Brees passing for over 300 yards with Thomas recording 100 or more receiving yards goes for +200. Brees has topped that mark seven times this season, five in which Thomas also reached his set goal.

As for traditional props, BetStars offers alternative total points for the game.

  • Over/under 49.5: -333/+225
  • Over/under 53.5: -182/+130
  • Over/under 59.5: +130/-182
  • Over/under 63.5: +220/-333

For both LA and New Orleans, eight games featured total points under 49.5. The Rams, though, had six games go over 63.5; four for the Saints. (Six of the last seven games for New Orleans went under 49.5.)

The first-half moneyline pegs LA at +135 and the Saints at -188. The Rams 4-2-2 in opening halves on the road, while New Orleans has gone 5-4 at home. BetStars lists the first-quarter moneyline at +120 for LA and -167 for the Saints. The Rams have gone 4-1-3 in first quarters this season, with their only setback coming against the Saints earlier this year. As for New Orleans, all five opening quarters won this year came at home.

New England Patriots (11-5) at Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)

Including the playoffs, Tom Brady has made 67 straight starts with his team favored, the longest such streak in the Super Bowl era. That could end this weekend.

As three-point underdogs, the Patriots make their eight straight appearance in the AFC Championship, seeking their fourth conference title in five years.

On the other side, behind MVP front-runner Mahomes, Kansas City appears in its first conference championship (second ever) since 1993. And it’s the Chiefs’ first-ever at home as they seek their first Super Bowl bid since 1970.

Home teams in the AFC Championship have won five straight and 11 of the past 12. Though New England has gone 8-3 in conference title games in the Brady era.

In Week 6, Mahomes racked up 352 yards and four TDs (three to Tyreek Hill, one to Travis Kelce) but was also picked off twice. Hill and Kelce combined for 247 yards receiving. Brady amassed 340 yards and a TD, and RB Sony Michel posted 106 rushing yards and two TDs for the Pats, who led 24-9 yet still needed a last-second field goal to win it.

For weeks, sportsbooks have favored a New Orleans-Kansas City showdown for the Lombardi Trophy. A New England upset, though, pays +135. This deep into the playoffs, it becomes more difficult to bet against New England.

As for Odds Boosts, BetStars a Kelce TD coupled with a Kansas City win at +150. Kelce has 10 TDs this season, and the Chiefs have gone 6-1 in those games. Similarly, a Hill TD and a KC win pays out +165; Hill has 12 TDs this year, with the Chiefs going 5-2.

Ten times this season Mahomes has passed for 300 or more yards, with Hill going for over 100 in three of those games. Such a feat earns +200 from BetStars.

For the Pats, a 100-yard, 1-touchdown outing from Michel pays +225. Michel has done so five times this year, including twice in the past three games. (For what it’s worth, when Michel accomplishes this feat, the Patriots are 5-0.)

Other props for this game:

  • First-quarter moneyline: New England +115, Kansas City -162
  • First-half moneyline: New England +120, Kansas City -162
  • Second-half moneyline: New England +100, Kansas City -137

The Chiefs have dominated first quarters and halves this season: 8-1 at home in the opening quarter and 9-0 in the first half. New England’s worst starts to games happen on the road: 1-6-1 in opening quarters, 3-4-1 in first halves.

Lastly, BetStars set the first-quarter over/under and spread at 10.5 points and Kansas City -0.5, respectively. On the road, the Patriots have averaged just over four points per game in the opening quarter, while the Chiefs have scored 10 per game.

Championship Stars Stacks, Super Boosts + Super Bowl odds at BetStars

Keep this short and sweet.

BetStars offers what they call “Conference Championship Stars Stacks” for championship weekend. Included:

  • New Orleans’ Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara both score a TD: 5/2
  • LA Rams’ Todd Gurley II and Robert Woods both score a TD: 11/4
  • Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce both score a TD: 3/1
  • New England’s Julian Edelman and Sony Michel both score a TD: 15/4

In addition, bettors can capitalize on BetStars’ “Conference Championship Super Boost” to cash in on better odds for the underdogs. By taking both New England and Los Angeles to win, BetStars will pay 6/1 odds.

Lastly, the current Super Bowl odds at BetStars NJ online sportsbook:

  • New Orleans Saints 7/4
  • Kansas City Chiefs 5/2
  • New England Patriots 7/2
  • Los Angeles Rams 15/4

Where else to bet online in New Jersey

As it has been well-documented, New Jersey features an array of mobile sports betting options.

Nine mobile sportsbooks complement the nine retail operations in the Garden State:

The list of NJ sportsbook apps includes a deep variety of traditional moneylines, parlays, in-game betting and futures.

Lawsuit Filed Against DraftKings Following Controversial Sports Betting National Championship

The lawsuit seeks damages that could eclipse $1 million, and alleges that DraftKings was “negligent” in its management of the SBNC in New Jersey.

DraftKings Sportsbook was just two months into operations when it announced it would host the DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship featuring $2.5 million in payouts.

As the Jersey City event neared, DraftKings grew into the sports betting powerhouse of New Jersey.

Now, DraftKings is in hot water.

A controversial ending to the NJ sports betting event staged Jan. 11-13, featured DraftKings paying out some wagers in time to bet on the final game of the weekend but not getting to others.

Also, according to the lawsuit, DraftKings rejected some wagers yet accepted others on the same events.

As a result, a class-action lawsuit was filed in New Jersey by contestant Christopher Leong, “on behalf of himself and all other similarly situated,” according to the suit.

DraftKings SBNC lawsuit in a nutshell

Seeking damages that could eclipse $1 million — including refunds of the $10,000 entry fee to all 192 contestants — the suit alleges:

“DraftKings’ “negligent, arbitrary, and capricious operation of the SBNC, while continually marketing to a national and large audience of participants, was, among other things, an unconscionable commercial practice that denied Plaintiff and the Class of the fundamental benefit underlying the opportunity to participate in the SBNC.”

“Defendant’s conduct has rendered the initial entry fee entirely or substantially worthless.”

DraftKings declined to respond as company policy prevents it from commenting on pending litigation.

A closer look at the lawsuit

Filed by attorneys William Pillsbury and Mac VerStandig, the lawsuit states that DraftKings violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

Among the complaints in the lawsuit: “The defendants …

  • … arbitrary and capricious acceptance of some wagers and rejection of other similar wagers.”
  • “Prompter grading of wagers for persons physically present in Jersey City.”
  • “Crediting some SBNC participants with winning funds from a given sporting contest upon which bets had been placed, before crediting other SBNC participants with winnings funds from the same contests on which bets had been placed.”
  • “Permitting at least one SBNC contestant to wager after the announced close of wagering in the SBNC; and general operation of the SBNC in an arbitrary, capricious and uniformly haphazard manner.”

All of these factors, per the suit, “constitute unconscionable practices in connection with the Defendant’s sale of merchandise, in contravention of N.J.S.A. 56:8-2.”

Betting limits highlighted in the case

Additionally, the lawsuit mentioned betting limits at the SBNC, specifically as they pertained to a pre-event tweet from DraftKings’ senior product manager Jon Aguiar.

DraftKings allegedly rejected various wagers due to bet size, according to the filing. As such, the defendant’s actions constitute “an unconscionable commercial practice, a deception, a false pretense, a false promise, and a misrepresentation in connection with the Defendant’s sale of merchandise, in contravention of (New Jersey law).”

All wagers placed during the SBNC were made through the DraftKings Sportsbook app, to be clear.

Following the event, DraftKings issued a statement saying it did not stray from SBNC rules:

“While we must follow our contest rules, we sincerely apologize for the experience several customers had where their bets were not graded in time to allow wagering on the Saints-Eagles game. We will learn from this experience and improve upon the rules and experience for future events.”

More contestants could join the lawsuit

While Leong, who did not win any money in the event, is the only contestant with his name listed in the lawsuit, the possibility of more joining could be on the horizon.

From the suit:

“Should this Honorable Court for any reason find Mr. Leong is alone insufficient to represent the Class, at least five (5) other persons, all similarly situated, are prepared to join this case as named plaintiffs.”

The lawsuit concludes that DraftKings’ conduct “was carried out with a lack of good faith, honesty in fact, and observance of fair dealing.”

“As a consequence of Defendant’s conduct, Plaintiff has suffered an ascertainable loss. Specifically, Defendant’s conduct, as set forth above, has rendered the benefits of Plaintiff and proposed Class members’ entry fee valueless or of minimal value.”