Bookie Q&A: BetMGM's Jason Scott Dishes on US Sports Betting

Jason Scott moved from Brisbane, Australia to Jersey City, New Jersey in December 2019. He took over bookmaking operations at BetMGM. Scott is off to a good start in Bookies Battle 2022 with 10 winners in Week 1. He once made his living as a professional bettor. On Tuesday, he talked about the record handle and hold percentage BetmGM saw in the first weekend of NFL betting.

Scott misses Australia's horse racing. He hasn't had time to get into the US racing properly.

Jason Scott visited Del Mar for the Breeders Cup last year and the Kentucky Derby this year. Both of them were spectacularly good.

Jason Scott is the CEO of BetMGM. He believes that fixed odds betting is necessary to grow the US sports betting market. He has customers who bet with him up to $100 million a year. They bet sport because they want to know what they're going to get. In most of the meetings the pools are small and the professional syndicates bet late.

Scott has become a fan of American sports since he moved here. He's always loved football and baseball, but hockey is the sport he's enjoyed the most.

Scott had a spectacular week for his bookmaker. He had his biggest college football Saturday ever, second biggest NFL Sunday ever and last night the results were enormous.

Scott explains the biggest difference between handle and hold. New York joined the playoffs last year, Illinois is going, we've joined their digital market, Louisiana and Kansas weren't there for last football season.

BetMGM wrote several $220,000 bets to win $200,00 in football in Week 1. The biggest bet was on baseball.

Jason Scott is a bookmaker and a bettor. He is not active as a betting player anymore. He prefers to cheer for one thing and not worry about two things.

Jason Scott's worst bet was Malcolm Butler's interception against the Seahawks. He bet on the team that had started the season badly and got injuries.

Jason Scott was on the Seahawks that day. He thinks the NFC will be a non-factor this season. The Bills, the Chiefs, or the Chargers will win the Super Bowl. Scott has a ticket on Chargers and a chance on Bengals.

Scott is surprised by the scale of the US sports betting market. He is seeing a lot of business on table tennis on tennis, soccer, Russian and European basketball and hockey. Soccer and tennis are the two sports that have shocked him the most.

In-game betting is growing. Baseball and football are the most popular sports for in-play betting. The offering on these in the- play bets on those sports is going to increase and increase. BetMGM's Jason Scott shares his thoughts on US Sports Betting.

The current expression of odds in the US is +200, +250, -350. Most of the customers would prefer to see a digital thing. The people that are used to betting prefer the traditional way. In Australia, when they moved from fractional to digital, it brought a whole new market in. Eventually, sports betting will go digital.

Scott advises someone new to sports betting to treat it like a job. He also advises not to get too upset when you win or sad when losing. If you are trying to make money, work out if you're any good at it and how much time you have to prepare. If it's just fun for you, and it’s a $20 same-game parlay and affordable, do that.