On Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 13, Jimmy Mac’s Pub in Langley was offering something new in addition to big-screen broadcasts of the game.
It was one of 12 pubs and bars in B.C., along with one casino, to do a trial run of the B.C. Lottery Corporation move to make it’s online PlayNow.com sportsbook, available at land-based locations.
Dan Beebe, BCLC interim COO, called it a first step.
“This pilot will help BCLC to understand the preferences of sports bettors, and help inform future experiences and programs to help support safe, positive play,” Beebe said.
Jimmy Mac’s manager Pat Neufeld welcomed the new betting option.
“I think it will be a good thing,” Neufeld remarked.
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The pilot project follows the legalization of single-event sports betting in B.C. last year.
Live sports-betting odds and related promos were flashed across digital screens at 13 sites in the province, including six in the Fraser Valley – three in Surrey and one each in Langley, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford.
On PlayNow.com at the 13 locations, people could get a $10 free-bet voucher for sports betting by using a mobile device and scanning a QR code.
The website was on track to double its Super Bowl betting record now that players have the option to place single bets on the NFL’s championship game.
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BCLC predicted more than $2 million in wagers will be placed on the website for Sunday’s Super Bowl, pitting the Los Angeles Rams against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Los Angeles Rams won a 23-20 victory Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals to give them their first NFL title since the 1999 season — and their first representing Los Angeles since 1951.
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