But the oddsmakers in Vegas and across the internet are growing increasingly frustrated with Minnesota. Why? Because they can’t beat them. Ben’s squad is an absurd 23-3 against the spread this season, leaving Vegas scratching their heads.

Sure, the Gophers are still outside of the March Madness picture, looking in. But if there were an NCAA Tournament for teams against the betting spread, they’d be the number one overall seed and it wouldn’t be close.

Dominant: Minnesota Gophers against the spread

If you’re someone who frequently engages in sports betting, you’ve probably taken note of just how consistently successful the Gophers have been this season, in the betting world. The Gophers have been terrific in all situations, going:

• 12-1 ATS as a favorite
• 11-2 ATS as an underdog
• 17-1 ATS at home
• 6-1 ATS on the road

Let me clarify what that means by providing some context. When betting against the spread, your odds are usually pretty close to even. That’s what spreads are for. A spread gives points to the underdog before the game starts, in an effort to make it a fair fight.

That’s why you hear or see things like, ‘the Gophers are +6.5 point underdogs vs the Cornhuskers’. Those +6.5 hypothetical points are called the ‘spread’. And in fact, that is the current spread on tonight’s Minnesota vs Nebraska game. So, to beat Nebraska Sunday ‘against the spread’, Minnesota doesn’t have to win the actual game. They just need to be within 6.5 points when the final buzzer sounds.

Related: Cam Christie’s NIL Value is Reportedly Up to $10,000/mo; Pharrel Payne’s Rising Too

If you’re a gambler who caught onto this Gophers ATS train early, they’ve made you a lot of money this season. Veteran sports bettors are well aware of the ‘juice’ fees and other +/- numbers that go along with making the final number you are betting, when trying to cover a spread, but there is no need to confuse anyone with those.

As mentioned earlier, betting spreads are meant to make betting odds EVEN so let’s assume they are, in order to keep this exercise simple. If you had bet $100 on the Gophers against the spread for every game this season, you’d be about $2,000 richer.

• Winning bets = 23 * ($100) = $2,300
• Losing bets = 3 * ($100) = $300
• Net profit = $2,000

Oddsmakers stunned by Gophers 23-3 record ATS

And, unsurprisingly, oddsmakers are growing increasingly frustrated with how often they are paying out on Minnesota games. Ben Fawkes (For The Win – USA Today) is an avid Minnesota sports enthusiast and deeply immersed in the world of sports betting.

Recently, Fawkes tapped into the expertise of a BetMGM college basketball oddsmaker, who expressed his shock at what the Gophers have done to them this season. Despite repeatedly adjusting their odds and expectations for the Gophers, Ben & Co continue to cover.

“There’s always a team like this, but I honestly don’t know what is particularly special about this team,” Seamus Magee, a college basketball trader at BetMGM told For The Win. “They’re a .500 Big Ten team, their offense is Top 40 on KenPom, but they’re not crushing teams on 3-pointers. What’s even more shocking is that they’re 23-3 ATS and one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country. That’s usually not a recipe for covering spreads.”

“The Gophers have been playing above their power rating all season,” Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in Atlantic City, told For The Win. “I’ve upgraded them seven points from where I had them to start the season. We have been raising Minnesota throughout the season, they just keep beating the number.”

Ben Fawkes – USAToday

The Gophers’ exceptional performance has left oddsmakers completely astonished, a rare occurrence in the world of sports betting where “Vegas always wins” is often the rule. This season, the Gophers have defied expectations and continually silenced doubters.

Related: How Can Minnesota Gophers Make the 2024 NCAA Tournament?

If they can continue their hot streak for another handful of games, they could give us degenerate sports gamblers another very interesting betting option during March Madness.

So what are the chances that sports betting will be regulated and allowed in the state of Minnesota any time soon? Well, the good news for those who are looking into gambling in Minnesota is that there are potentially plans to change the online casino and sportsbook gambling laws.

Current gambling laws in Minnesota

The Minnesota gambling laws are currently a little on the confusing side, but you definitely cannot go to a casino or log in to an online casino, nor can you bet on your favorite Minnesota sports teams like the Twins in baseball.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety is in charge of handling this and runs an Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement department that has some very stringent rules.

There are some gambling activities in Minnesota that are permitted, but these are very few and far between. From the government site: “Allowable gambling activities in Minnesota are licensed charitable gambling, including pull-tabs, paddlewheels, tipboards, bingo and raffles. The Minnesota Lottery, pari-mutuel betting on horse races, and tribal gaming are also permitted.”

If you have any questions about this then you can contact the Gambling Control Board. They are authorized to provide a license to anyone who wishes to run one of these gambling activities.

As you can see, there are a few exceptions, but in terms of sportsbook gambling, it is strictly prohibited and there are no legal ways to bet on the sports you know and love anywhere in Minnesota.

The future of Minnesota sports betting

There are many people who are pushing for online gambling and sportsbook betting to be allowed in Minnesota. Over the last few years, there have been bills to legalize that have not gone through to become law.

Rep. Zack Stephenson’s office has confirmed in 2023 that they will look to issue a similar bill this year. The Republican-controlled senate did not pass the bill last year but he could see more support in 2023.

The senator has been quoted as saying: “I have built up relationships with the stakeholders and I continue to support what consumers want, which is the option to play at brick-and-mortar and online venues, and through tribal nations and tracks, with commonsense protections for everyone involved.”

In 2022, the bill from Stephenson did get a lot of tribal support as it proposed that the tribes in the area would have some control of the industry. Many Indian gaming tribes have also invested in the industry in the area and they may need that control in order to support the bill. In 2023, support is definitely growing for a regulated market for sportsbook gambling.

When might we see legal gambling in Minnesota?

It’s important that nobody makes any promises when it comes to when gambling laws might be changed in Minnesota. It could be that we see some form of legal gambling as early as 2023, with more relaxed laws and better legislation to protect people. It’s possible that Minnesota will pass the bill and move towards being a state where sports gambling is allowed, and even other methods of betting, such as casinos.

Hoping for resolution in 2023 may be a little ambitious, though, and it could be that people who want to gamble on sports in the state will need to wait a little longer, with change possible in 2024.

What benefits might there be to legal sports betting?

One of the reasons why there is such a push in a lot of states to make gambling legal and regulate it properly is the fact that it can benefit the local area.

If Minnesota does follow some of the other states in making gambling legal in more scenarios, then it is very possible that there will be benefits in the area, including:

• A boost to the economy. Gambling can bring more tax income and other benefits for the economy.
• More jobs. Both online casinos and in-person casinos need people working for the companies, which could bring jobs to the region.
• Tourism. The legalization of gambling may lead to more people crossing the state borders and coming to spend time in Minnesota.

It is very possible that Minnesota will allow sports betting at some point in the near future. It is surely a matter of time.

While sports fans in around 30 states are already experiencing the thrills and enjoyment that sports betting brings, Minnesota has been left waiting for a slice of the action. Frustratingly, the state’s current ban on sports betting does not really make any sense, with gambling being commonplace within the community.

Numerous attempts have been made over the years to get sports betting legalised within the state and there is no legal reason a sports betting bill could not be pushed through in the end. Unfortunately, numerous obstacles have proven hard to overcome in the final push for legalisation, with local tribes opposing certain aspects of the house bill. With it now looking like it will be 2023 at least before betting in the state will get the green light, let us look at why Minnesota needs sports betting sooner rather than later…

Most Minnesotans back sports betting being legalised

Numerous opinion polls have been conducted in Minnesota with one question in mind, should sport betting be legalised? The results of these polls have been very conclusive, with staunch support for the introduction of sports betting being evident in the results.

Take a survey conducted by KSTP and SurveyUSA for example, here 64% of respondents came out in favour of the move to legalise sports betting, while 19% were undecided and only 17% saying they were opposed to the suggestion. The evidence is clear that Minnesotans want to wager on their favourite sports teams, with a healthy appetite for sports betting within the community.

It will raise important tax revenues for the state government

Another aspect to bear in mind is the significant tax revenues that sports betting would generate for the state once all details are finalised. There is talk of a new compact which would be signed with the native tribes to allow the state to be able to collect taxes from sports betting transactions, which could prove lucrative for the state.

Local politician and member of the Minnesota Senate Karla Bingham has indicated that wagering on sports betting could be as high as “$2 billion over the course of a year” within the state, which in return would deliver “anywhere from $30 million to close to a $100 million” to the state government depending on how the tax structure was organised. Any additional tax revenues would be highly welcomed at a time when worries about the state of the economy, rising inflation and the recovery from the covid 19 pandemic persists.

It makes a lot of sense

One Important thing to bear in mind is that gambling is no stranger to Minnesota, it is not as if this is an argument on gambling prohibition. Minnesotans are surrounded by busy casinos, eye-catching pull tabs and the ringing of slot machines so not having sports betting available for punters in a city renowned for its sporting prowess just seems odd. What is even worse is that this opens the door up to online sports betting operators with questionable legalities, or for those operating out of far-flung places such as Curaçao where legal structures can be exploited.

Americans have always loved to have a wager, you only have to look at the popularity of Vegas. Those looking to place a bet had been left with little choice but to wager offshore prior to 2018 when PASPA was overturned. Since then, sites such as gamble-usa.com have entered the market to provide reviews and guides to players in regulated states and to help them make decisions on the best legalized betting options available to them.

Minnesotans who want to sports bet will do, regardless of state law. Whether this means traveling to a state such as Wisconsin where sports betting is legal, using one of the shady online operators or even worse falling victims to online frauds purporting to be sports betting. When you look at it this way, it is a no brainer to legalise sports betting, as tax revenues will stay within the state and Minnesotans will be protected from shady practices in the online world.

Conclusion:

As we can see from the points above, it is a no brainer that this law should be passed sooner rather than later, for the benefit of both the state and Minnesotans alike. For far too long locals have gone without the betting experience which enhances the enjoyment of supporting your team and the sporting experience in general.

The thrill of betting is a major pull and Minnesotans appetite for it shows no signs of waning, therefore it is only right that the tribes, politicians, and law makers come together and push this change through so the people of Minnesota can get what they want.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The highly anticipated day has finally arrived:

BREAKING: Supreme Court strikes down federal anti sports gambling law, gives states go-ahead to allow betting on sports.

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 14, 2018

On Monday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court officially deemed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) unconstitutional. Meaning, while previously only legal in Nevada, sports betting is now allowed across the rest of the country.

The movement challenging the federal ban on gambling, spearheaded by New Jersey, argued that PASPA directly violated the Constitution’s tenth amendment (State’s rights). Apparently, the majority of the Supreme Court Justices felt the same way.

via GIPHY

As a result, it’s now up to the individual states to determine how they wish to handle sports betting. That process will be very similar to the “way they choose whether to offer lotteries and other forms of gambling.”

Monday’s announcement comes a little over a month after the Minnesota Legislature’s “behind-the-scenes effort” to fully permit sports betting became known:

Get your wallets out…. or not?

Minnesota Legislature is about to take on #sportsbetting.

?: @TheJohnnyMNhttps://t.co/zS87loJmi4

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) April 7, 2018

At that time, State Representative Pat Garofalo shed some light on the motivation behind that anticipatory move:

At this time, Garofalo is aggressively making the rounds to push forward MN’s version of a Sports Gambling Bill. On Monday, one of the very excited State Representative’s stops included some time with KFAN’s Paul Allen on Monday.

While chatting with PA, Garofalo explained that “the conservative estimate is that in the first year in sports gambling in Minnesota, over $2 billion in wagers would take place.”

For those of you anxious to start (legally) wetting your proverbial beaks, you might need to pump your proverbial breaks. The current legislative session ends on May 21st.

Per Garofalo, passing his drafted bill by that deadline is “not realistic.” He expressed a goal of having an agreement “in place before the NFL season starts this fall.

Johnny Minnesota (@TheJohnnyMN)

MinnesotaSportsFan.com

While it couldn’t stop Nevada, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 halted full-scale sports betting for the rest of America. However, within the year, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to revisit the constitutionality of that gambling prohibition.

Reversal of the 26-year-old Act is gaining steam and, in anticipation, the Minnesota Legislature is making moves:

Move to legalize sports betting takes shape at Minnesota Legislature. https://t.co/YD6U9z5P6J pic.twitter.com/9FYAG0Ug61

— Star Tribune Sports (@StribSports) April 4, 2018

Per the StarTribune, “a behind-the-scenes effort is underway at the Minnesota Legislature to legalize sports betting.” Pat Garofalo (Farmington) is one of the State Representatives who vocally supports the not-yet proposed legislation

Please Note: Garofalo also said he “won’t submit a sports gambling bill the tribal casinos are opposed to.”

Despite fully agreeing with Mr. Garofalo on passing a sports gambling bill, I don’t see eye-to-eye with him on the logic that if Minnesota does nothing “the offshore sports books will flood social media and scoop up bettors.” His mentioned influx of overseas gambling websites has already occurred.

Let’s not sugar coat things. The days of requiring Las Vegas or a back-door bookie to place a wager are gone. Sure, it might be against the law but; if you want to get the adrenaline flowing by dabbling in some offshore sports gambling, well, it’s easy like Sunday Morning.

How to spot a degenerate gambler every March: @5thYear pic.twitter.com/QZiUY4cr7d

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 24, 2018

I’m going to go out on a (really strong and safe) limb and say he illegally gambled on that basketball game. On that note, despite the criminal’s isolation from the party, he’s far from alone in the presumed activity:

The NFL, NCAA, and other leagues continue to argue that keeping the federal gambling ban in tact “is necessary to protect the integrity of their games.” From a fundamental point of view, that makes sense. However, from an “at least $150 billion year” point of view, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act isn’t protecting shit much.

Another organization against reversing the 1992 law is the Citizens Against Gambling Expansion (Aka: CAGE). Jake Grassel, a spokesman for the group, said “internet expansion will mean we have a gambling facility in every home, library and Starbucks in the state.”

To me, that statement makes Jake appear naive on the accessibility of offshore sports betting sites. Let’s treat the first four words like a typo and try again:

“Internet expansion will mean We have a gambling facility in every home, library and Starbucks in the state.”

CAGE’s fight to reduce addiction and prevent underage gambling is a morally strong battle. Unfortunately for Grassel and crew, sports betting is already available “in every home, library and Starbucks in the state.” anywhere with internet access. In addition to being readily available and easy to use, websites will even throw-in a little something extra for joining:

Link: Bovada.lv

As for where a company like Bovada’s proceeds’ end up? Hell if I know. Wherever that may be, doesn’t it make more sense to see those winnings and deposit fees coming right back to the Land of 10K Lakes? Wouldn’t the resulting increase in jobs be an additional positive?

I know we are Minnesota Nice, but stopping all this generosity to offshore websites seems like a no-brainer.

Johnny Minnesota @TheJohnnyMN
Minnesota Sports Fan MinnesotaSportsFan.com