Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Betting Sees A Huge Increase This Season

05/13/2018 at 9:26am EDT

from Doug Kezirian of ESPN,

"Every morning when I got the profit and loss sheet, basketball we did good, baseball we did good, we lost again in hockey," South Point oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro said, referencing the Knights' 8-1 start to its inaugural season. "That's when you knew you had to deal with it differently than you normally would."

Until this year's record hockey handle, bookmakers rarely noticed the sport. In fact, in its monthly revenue reports, the Nevada Gaming Control Board groups hockey with tennis and golf in a category labeled "Other," while football and basketball warrant separate distinctions.

"When I started in the 70's, we didn't even book hockey," Vaccaro said, sharing that odds were first posted in the mid-80's. "Hockey wasn't even on our mind. Nobody even asked for it."

In Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, the "Other" category's handle was $214 million during the months of hockey's regular season (October to March). That is a 36 percent increase from $157 million of the previous hockey calendar, which pre-dated the Golden Knights.

"There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that about 40 percent of the people betting hockey now never bet it before the Golden Knights came," Vaccaro said.

more

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments

Comment by Paul in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 5 minutes ago
Comment by retrospecd in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Seider's Year - 21 minutes ago
Comment by damndogrevenge in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 26 minutes ago
Comment by Shanny_Fan in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Same Lineup Tonight - 49 minutes ago
Comment by bezukov in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Seider's Year - 1 hour ago