‘A Vegas feel’: Fans place first sports bets at the Kansas Star Casino

Chuck Bass held up his ticket as he posed for a photo with casino and FanDuel officials at the Kansas Star Casino on Thursday.

The 30-year-old from Wichita placed the first in-person bet at the casino when sports betting opened at noon, making him one of the first people to legally bet on sports in Kansas.

Gov. Laura Kelly placed the first bet in person at the Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kansas. She placed a $15 wager on the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl 57. The dollar figure was chosen in honor of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ number, 15. The odds on the bet were 10-1.

Bass, who wore a University of Kansas T-shirt and hat, was one of a few people waiting for the in-person location at the Mulvane casino to open. Business is expected to pick up.

“What we have seen in other states, these have just been tremendously successful,” said casino spokesperson David Strow. “The FanDuel brand is probably the leading sports betting brand in the country. It really does well with customers. We are expecting to see great results in Kansas.”

Kansas is the seventh state where FanDuel and Boyd Gaming Corp., the parent company of the casino, have placed a sports betting room in a casino. Boyd is a part owner of FanDuel.

FanDuel launched mobile betting simultaneously in Kansas.

Betkansas.com spokesperson Jared Kimble said the other online platforms ready to launch sports betting in Kansas were: DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, BallyBet and Points Bet.

Anyone 21 years old and older within the state’s geographic boundaries can now place a bet online, even if they aren’t a resident.

The Kansas Star in Mulvane and the Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kansas, opened in-person sports betting sites Thursday. Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Dodge City and Kansas Crossings Casino in Pittsburg eventually will have in-person sports betting as well.

Karol Corcoran, general manager of FanDuel Sportsbook, said they had more people preregistered to bet online than in proportion to populations in other states they have launched and more people wanting to bet on their local team (in this case Kansas State University football) than in other states.

He expected a second surge of people to sign up when the NFL starts next week. He wouldn’t give specifics on how many people had bet online as of about 1:40 p.m.

“All the trend lines are positive,” he said. “We are very pleased with the launch.”

The first online bet in Kansas through FanDuel was $10 on the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers game to be over a certain number of runs. Bass’ first bet at the casino was $20 on Oklahoma State football winning on Thursday night.

Bass, despite wearing KU gear, said he won’t be betting in favor of KU football.

“When basketball season comes around, will do something with them,” he said. “Steer clear of Jayhawk football for sure.”

He also bet a $10 parlay that could pay out $42 if the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Ranger and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals.

Bass said he would stay home to watch the Kansas City Chiefs games, but would come to watch college basketball in the new sports area at the casino. It has 28 massive TVs, around 20 recliners with the FanDuel logo, 10 kiosks and a counter for betting.

“It’s got a Vegas feel to it,” he said. “A lot of places you go you can do sports betting, you don’t have this luxury. It doesn’t quite feel like Vegas cause you don’t get free drinks, but the TVs are nice, the lines (betting odds) are displayed nice, that’s a definite positive.”

Like Bass, Lynn Zehr also took a bet that went against the Royals. He was the first one to place a bet on the kiosk (Bass made his first bet at the counter). He bet $50 that the White Sox would win the division. They are currently in third place. If they win, he would get $525.

“I bet on the White Sox because I heard that the odds were pretty good and the White Sox have the easiest schedule in baseball the rest of the season,” the 68-year-old from Harper said.

Zehr said he’s bet on sports a couple times in the past in Las Vegas.

“I’m glad it’s in Kansas,” he said. “It seems like it was everywhere else but Kansas.”

The room at the casino is lined with the FanDuel logo. Strow said FanDuel operates the space. The casino gets a minority piece of the betting revenue from in-person and online.

“This is a very exciting day for us,” he said. “Any time we’ve introduced sports betting in a new state it’s offered us an opportunity to introduce or casinos and our properties to customers we may not have seen before.”

He said people who bet on sports skew younger than other casino customers.

Strow said the casino hosting in-person sporting betting would also draw people from Oklahoma City and Tulsa since sports betting is illegal in Oklahoma and the casino would be the closest place to put in a bet in person.

“That’s a great opportunity for us,” he said.

Contributing: Aaron Torres of The Kansas City Star