Will California Sportsbooks Have Hollywood Celebrity Betting Odds?
As California special interests continue their back-and-forth about whether legal CA sports betting has a place in the Golden State, one thing is already off the table.
Or, at least, it probably is.
Yes, we’re talking about entertainment betting and current events betting.
And if you’ve been following the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard case, you’ll know just how big a loss that could be – especially in the home of Hollywood and all the requisite celebrity intrigue and popcorn-worthy real-life degeneracy that comes with it.
See, every state that’s legalized domestic sports betting to date has taken specific steps to exclude the above categories from the menu of authorized betting markets.
Mostly, this appears to be a nod to Sin City, as Nevada has long forbidden non-sports bets on things like TV, movies, awards shows, and so on (although one state, New Jersey, recently allowed residents to bet on the Oscars).
In other words, while there’s nothing in these laws that forbids betting on entertainment (unlike betting on politics, which is explicitly banned in most if not all states with legal domestic gambling), it seems that the tradition of the industry is such that these kinds of wagers are a no-go for the most part.
Of course, this is California we’re talking about, and there might be enough celebrity interest in the state to prompt the inclusion of domestic entertainment odds if and when sports gambling is legalized and rolled out.
And honestly, why not? After all, they’d just be leaving money on the table – much like Amber Heard left that deuce on Johnny’s bed – if they don’t.
Plus, there’s already competition out there for this lucrative market.
At several of the top-rated legal online gambling sites that serve CA residents from outside US borders (i.e. those legit offshore venues we recommend here at Online California Casinos), the Depp-Heart trial was a big betting event with all kinds of different lines to choose from: Who’d win the case? Would Johnny look at Amber after the verdict was announced? How much would Depp deposit into his dwindling bank account if he won?
You could literally bet on all that kind of stuff.
And now that the trial’s over, the fun’s just getting started with a fresh selection of new Amber Heard-Johnny Depp betting odds.
This batch includes things like whether or not Amber Heard will make an Onlyfans account by the end of year (definitely), whether or not Johnny Depp will star in Beetlejuice 2 (maybe) or make another Pirates of the Caribbean movie (probably, if he loses some weight), whether or not someone will make a documentary about this whole stupid circus sideshow (obviously yes), and whether or not Amber Heard will get engaged to some unfortunate fellow celeb or other (a person named Bianca Butti is the favorite).
LOLs all around.
Now, to be clear, not all trusted California online casinos have betting odds like this. Typically, only those sites with sportsbooks – such as Bovada Casino – will post celebrity odds, because such markets get lumped in with standard sports bets and are offered by sportsbooks rather than dedicated CA online casino gambling venues or dedicated online CA poker sites. And Bovada has a sportsbook, while venues like Cafe Casino, Slots LV, and Casino Max don’t.
But that’s sort of the point.
Entertainment is basically sport, and sport is absolutely entertainment, so it would make all the sense in the world for CA gambling venues to offer these sorts of betting lines once sports gambling is legalized in the state at the domestic level.
We, for one, hope it happens.
Of course, we also hope it happens the right way.