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Sports gambling thought needed

The Supreme Court decision that paved the way for legalized sports betting across the nation should not be shocking nor should its impact be considered too deeply.

To do so is to ignore a basic fact: Sports betting never was confined to the sportsbooks in Las Vegas.

If that’s not a fact, then it’s a dirty little secret. Everybody knows a “guy” or has a friend who knows a “guy” who can take a bet on anything from weekend high school football games to whether LeBron James will have more than 10 3-pointers in one night, and everything in between.

Ohio wasn’t quite as forward-thinking as Pennsylvania or West Virginia in drafting gaming legislation that anticipated this day coming, but that should be no surprise.

Ohio opened its first casino in 2012, years after Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

We agree with comments from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose state was the one to challenge the federal restriction on sportsbooks.

He argued that while professional sports leagues still are fighting the expansion, the door was opened when the NFL and NHL decided it was OK to put professional sports teams in Sin City. Apparently the stigma of that specter has become acceptable at last.

The implementation is where some deeper thinking will be welcomed.

Some states are likely to ban bets on their local teams or limit the betting to new sportsbooks in established casinos.

West Virginia’s sportsbook law, which could lead it to be up and running by the time football starts in the fall, well ahead of other states in the region, includes a provision for betting from a mobile app for people with established casino player’s memberships, though bets could only be placed from devices within the Mountain State’s borders.

Ohio will have work to do in drafting legislation that is competitive yet somehow protects the integrity of games played in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, from the pros to the NCAA.

And, whatever Pennsylvania does will have to take into consideration professional and college teams across the state, including Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

And, no matter the legality of the sports betting, we’d wager people still will use their “guy” to bet on most games. That might be a sure thing.

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