10 reasons why New Yorkers should still come to N. J. to bet on sports
As longtime readers of this space know, I am one divorce away from becoming a professional gambler. (Everyone finds that joke funny except for one person).
Bottom line? I am good at it. I consider myself an expert daily fantasy sports player and an above average sports bettor. The only reason I’m not doing it fulltime is … well, it’s because before I found this little hobby, I got married and had kids and got a dog and a mortgage and weed trimmer and forsythia bushes (since removed, I hate them). You know, I’m a typical suburban dude and the idea of telling my family I’m now going to be wagering 10% of our family fortune — we’re talking five figures, bro — on any given day is probably not the +EV move to make, family-wise. (EV = expected value, and the “+” in front of it means “positive expected value.”)
So I will continue to mash out some printed words in exchange for American dollars, which I will then deposit into my DraftKings account.
And you know who else has been doing something similar? New Yorkers, by the hundreds of thousands. Here’s a little thing you might not be aware of: While it’s legal to bet on sports online in New Jersey, it is not (just yet) legal to do so in New York. So New York sports bettors have been making the trip over to our fair state to place their wagers for the last few years. Some estimates say that up to 20% of all sports bets made in New Jersey are made by New Yorkers. But sometime in the next few months, this will end, as New York lawmakers have legalized online sports betting, and it’s expected to be available to New York sports bettors by Super Bowl Sunday at the latest.
This does mean we’ll take a bit of a tax hit, but beyond that, I think we’re going to take a bit of a cultural hit. I mean, how many New Yorkers do you think made the trip to our little state and were dazzled by our offerings? I’m not even kidding — I liked the idea of sports bettors like myself shooting over to New Jersey to ply their trade.
And so with that, an open letter of sorts to all you New Yorkers who have visited the Garden State in order to get down $100 on the Giants +7.5 — don’t leave! In fact, here’s 10 reasons why you should still hop the PATH or a NJ Transit train to make your bets.
1) Pizza: Our pizza is significantly better than your pizza. This is an objective take. “Famous” New York pizza is a floppy, greasy, cheesy, sloppy mess. New Jersey pizza — even your standard strip mall joint? So much better. Not even close.
2) Bagels: Not all bagels, mind you, but in my experience, the Jersey bagel done right — think Caesar’s in Hamilton — is mind-blowingly perfect. Big and doughy but not too doughy and with the right bite on the outside and … listen: Our bagels are better. Fight me.
3) Green space: Sure, you have Central Park, but no matter how open it is to the public, it’s still uptown. We have green
space that you don’t need to wear $250 sneakers in to feel comfortable.
4) We have Bruce Springsteen, you have Billy Joel. Come on.
5) The Giants and Jets actually play here, you know. They are our teams. Of course, right now, you can have them, but eventually, we will reclaim them.
6) We have the Jersey Shore, you have Long Island. I mean, that’s like comparing caviar to dirty socks.
7) We hire people to pump our gas. It’s our one bougie thing.
8) Wawa. Let me repeat: Wawa.
Wawawawawawawawawawawawa.
9) Because pork roll, egg and cheese is infinitely better than butter on a hard roll. Come on. Live a little. And finally …
10) Because you try so hard to be cool, and we couldn’t give a (bleep).
OK fine, so this was just an excuse to dunk on New York. Whatever. We rock. I also love Indianapolis getting seven points at home against the Bills.