“Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin’ is knowin’ what to throw away and knowin’ what to keep.” K enny Rogers offered that message in his Grammy Award-winning country- western hit, “The Gambler.” It’s a lesson that, nearly 45 years later, regu- lators in Arizona applied to sports betting — and they learned it well. On September 9, 2021, event wagering went live in Arizona just five months after Governor Doug Ducey signed a bill legalizing it. Sports betting turned out to be a cash cow, and the state has exceeded expectations at nearly every turn during the activity’s first formative year. Phoenix has quietly become a national hub for sports gambling thanks to robust fan culture, unique demographics, smart legislation, and a dash of good luck. But there’s a downside, too. With every bet slip submitted via betting windows, touch-screen kiosks, and millions of mobile phones across the state, Arizona sports- books stuff their pockets with the dollars of love- lorn sports bettors — while a paltry tax rate does little to boost the state’s bottom line. Happy Birthday, Bettors! The 23rd state to legalize live event wagering, Arizona scrambled to become the fastest state to eclipse $1 billion in handle, which is the total number of dollars wagered. It took just 82 days to do so. After one year, Arizona bettors have wagered more than $5 billion, according to the Arizona Department of Gaming. “Sports betting is here to stay,” Jill Dorson, managing editor of the sports betting industry news outlet Sports Handle, told Phoenix New Times. “In Arizona, it stuck. It really stuck.” By comparison, Illinois was the second-fastest state to accomplish the $5 billion feat, but it took bettors there 18 months to wager that mighty sum. Arizona bettors wagered a record $691 million in March, capping the biggest national quarterly handle since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018. During the same month, a single sportsbook — DraftKings — surmounted $1 billion in handle. Sportsbooks are shopfronts or mobile phone applications that gamblers use to place wagers on sports games, horse racing, and other live competitions. Professional betters told New Times that they try to do better research than the analytics depart- ments at sportsbooks and find bets that are under- valued. That’s sometimes possible during live games when odds might not be updated in real time and they can find a better value for a wager. That’s the type of strategy employed by Cory 14 Lindover, CEO of The Premium Consulting Group Inc., a pioneering sports betting consulting service based in Ontario, Canada. Lindover styles himself as “an anonymous online celebrity” and went public with his name for the first time in an inter- view with New Times. Lindover caters heavily to clients in metro Phoenix, and he noted that Queen Creek was a hot spot in his curation of winning wagers. That’s because the market has emerged as a hub for professional sports bettors. “I can attest to Arizona being a big sports betting state,” Lindover said. “Arizona is already leading the pack among a lot of states, and it’s positioned to make a really good run in the future.” But how was the state able to weather a sports scene overshadowed by neighboring California and a gambling market dwarfed by next-door Nevada? “We find Arizona is a really good sports betting market because of the university presence that Arizona has,” Lindover said. Gamblers ages 21 to 25 make up the bulk of hobby bettors, while profes- sional bettors tend to be much older, which suits a state that consistently ranks among the top destina- tions for retirees. Football kicks off at 10 a.m. on the West Coast, and prime-time contests wrap up by 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., Lindover added. That means Arizona bettors are more likely to place more bets on football Sunday than their sleepy East Coast counterparts, who may need a cup of coffee if they want to see how the Arizona Cardinals game ends and still make it to work on Monday morning. If you’re a bookie, “Arizona is a great space to be in,” Lindover said. Industry experts all pointed to the breadth of athletic options for fans in Phoenix. including the Cardinals (NFL), Suns (NBA), Diamondbacks (MLB), and Coyotes (NHL). There’s also the Mercury (WNBA), pro soccer’s Phoenix Rising, arena football’s Arizona Rattlers, two major Division I college football and basketball programs at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, a NASCAR venue, and a PGA Tour stop. Where the Money Goes It’s safe to say Arizona is crazy about sports. And fans overwhelmingly prefer to bet on their >> p 17 SEPT 22ND–SEPT 28TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com