Wagering on ENASCAR revs up on local sportsbook apps
It’s virtual racing, but real money, for Circa, William Hill
The ENASCAR race that took place Sunday at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway generated plenty of real money in wagers at Las Vegas sportsbooks.
“It ended up being about 50 percent of a normal race when all was said and done,” Circa sportsbook director Matthew Metcalf said. “We wrote a lot on the yes/no options we had for 10 drivers and a decent amount in matchups. It was, by far, the most bet on esports from a money amount.
“The ticket count was probably equal to some of the more popular Counter-strike matches we’ve done.”
William Byron won Sunday’s race, the third event in the ENASCAR iracing Pro Invitational Series. Byron opened at 7-1 and had the most money and tickets on him at William Hill, where one bettor won a $400 wager that paid $2,800.
William Hill took 400 bets on the race overall.
“We were a small loser, but we’re encouraged for Week 1. We wrote a lot of tickets, and that’s all we’re trying to do,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said. “We just want to keep people engaged and keep them coming to the William Hill site and give them something to do. We’re just trying to help people through the doom and gloom. That’s really what all of this is about.
“Let’s face it. The only way to make any money is on the NFL, NBA and MLB. This is to bridge the gap.”
Sunday’s virtual race, in which each driver competed in a simulator from home, was televised on Fox and FS1.
All NASCAR Cup Series races are postponed through May 3.
Table tennis smash hit
Japanese sumo wrestling. Nicaraguan soccer. Australian rules football.
Of all the obscure sports William Hill has taken bets on during the coronavirus pandemic, Russian and Ukrainian table tennis have proved the most popular.
“Table tennis is the No. 1 draw by a country mile,” Bogdanovich said.
He said the book takes six figures worth of wagers daily on the sport.
“There’s 90 matches a day, so it adds up,” he said. “We’re doing in-play (betting) on it. People have adopted it. They’re handicapping these guys now. They’re into it, for sure. They bet it pretty darn good.”
A William Hill bettor in Nevada turned $50 into $9,676 on March 28 after hitting a 10-team table tennis parlay on the book’s mobile sports betting app.
Another esports option
In addition to the Nevada Gaming Control Board granting approval to books Friday to offer wagers on the ENASCAR iracing Series, the board granted approval to offer wagers on the Dota 2 ESL ONE Los Angeles tournament.
NBA 2K leak
Offshore sportsbook Sportsbetting.ag reported Monday that it lost in the low five figures on the first round of the NBA 2K Players Tournament over the weekend because of an apparent information leak on the pretaped virtual event.
“We initially made (Kevin) Durant the favorite to win the tournament, but he was taking very little action over the course of the first 24 hours,” Sportsbetting.ag odds manager Robert Cooper said. “When we posted the first-round matchup lines and the bets were completely one-sided toward (Derrick) Jones Jr., it became obvious that someone knew the outcome of the game.”
No. 16 seed Jones Jr., a UNLV product, upset No. 1 seed Durant in a 78-62 win Friday. Heading into Tuesday’s quarterfinals, Jones Jr. is the +450 third choice to win the event. Patrick Beverley is the 2-1 favorite, and Devin Booker is the +275 second choice.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.