Former baseball great Pete Rose placed Ohio's first legal sports bet soon after the new year arrived.
Rose, who received a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball due to his gambling habits, placed the state's first legal sports bet at the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati moments after the clock struck midnight.
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed legal sports betting into law in December of 2021. The state used 2022 to prepare for the Jan. 1, 2023 roll out.
Bet Ohio estimates the state will generate more than $50 million in tax revenue from sports betting in its first year, with 2% of that revenue going to fund treatment and prevention services for problem gambling, Spectrum News reported.
Rose, who received his ban after placing bets on the Reds while he was the team's manager, used his first legal state bet to put money on the Reds winning the World Series.
"I don't know a damn thing about odds," Rose said after placing the bet, Spectrum News reported. "Go Reds! Go Bengals!"
Ohio joined other Midwest states such as Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan in legalizing sports gambling. Neighboring Kentucky has not.
"The money that was being bet by Ohioans, whether it was in Michigan or Indiana, is all going to stay here in the state and the taxpayers are gonna benefit," Hard Rock Cincinnati President George Goldhoff said, Spectrum News reported.
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