JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This weekend is the first Super Bowl where Floridians can legally bet on sports since the state changed its gambling laws to allow sports betting.
Legal sports betting is only allowed in person at Hard Rock casinos or online through the Hard Rock bet app or website.
Manny Cuevas feels it’s long overdue.
“Why not Florida? I mean it’s right about time with all the sports going on I’m for it for sure,” Cuevas said.
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Even non-gamblers like Maurice Jones, who manages Sneakers Sports Grille, see the positives in sports betting being legal.
“I catch a lot of gamblers that come here especially when it’s football time. Right now you can literally bet on literally anything right now in sports betting, so I feel like it’s good for the people who like gambling,” Jones said.
The American Gaming Association expects a record 68 million Americans to bet $23.1 billion for Super Bowl 58.
Cuevas said gambling through Hard Rock’s betting system has been a light hobby for him since it became legal in Florida.
“I would base it on my bets during the postseason we were betting like one or two things, and now we have like ten bets so it’s definitely an uptick for the bigger game for sure,” he said.
While Jones is okay with legal sports betting, he says it’s not something he’ll get involved in.
“The closest I’m getting to a sports bet is fantasy leagues and that’s it, that’s the closest I can get to it other than that no,” Jones said.
If you know someone struggling with gambling addiction, there are resources available. You can call the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER to help connect you with local resources.