Category: Sports

Kansas kicks off sports betting Sept. 1, a week before the NFL season

by Dylan Lysen, KCUR and Kansas News Service

The new legal gambling starts Sept. 1 through casinos and online apps.

People in Kansas can start legally betting on sports Sept. 1, with gambling beginning in time for the start of football season.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday announced the state’s four state-owned casinos can begin accepting wagers on Sept. 1 as part of a soft launch of the new gambling method.

The Kansas City Chiefs season-opening game is Sept. 11.

“I want to thank all our partners for working with us to get this done in time for football season,” Kelly said in a news release.

The start date comes months after a new law went into effect July 1 allowing people over the age of 21 to bet on sports. Kelly signed the bill into law in May. Kansas lawmakers narrowly approved the bill this year after close, late-night votes in both the House and Senate in April.

The start of betting was delayed because the Kansas Lottery needed to finalize regulations, including creating a specific process for casinos to apply to offer sports gambling in certain ways, such as through a smartphone app.

The four casinos are Boot Hill Casino and Resort near Dodge City, Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel in Pittsburg and Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Boot Hill Casino previously announced it has partnered with national gambling apps DraftKings and Bally’s Corp. to provide online sports betting in Kansas.

Republican Sen. Rob Olson said in May he was excited to finally legalize it because many Kansans wanted it.

“It’s something that Kansans are already doing, and it will bring additional tax revenue to our state to help with our needs,” Olson said. “My constituents have pushed for this legislation for years, and now, the next time we have a significant sporting event in our state, Kansans will be able to bet on their hometown team.”

The Kansas Lottery will outsource the sports gambling operations to the casinos in Kansas. Those casinos will be allowed to launch online and in-person betting operations.

Bettors will need to be within the state of Kansas to place a wager.

Sports teams and events may also allow for gambling at stadiums if they enter a marketing agreement with the casinos. Lawmakers specifically noted Sporting Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Park and the Kansas Speedway — which are both located near Hollywood Casino — as candidates.

Kelly noted that even restaurants would be able to offer sports gambling.

The new venture will also bring in some money to the state government. The Kansas Lottery estimates taxes on legal sports betting would total up to $10 million a year by 2025.

But a sports betting expert said that figure may be low. Brandt Iden, a former Michigan state lawmaker who helped legalize sports gambling there, said that the Kansas estimate doesn’t take out-of-state bets into account.

While Kansas passed a new law, its next door neighbor in Missouri failed to do the same. Iden said that means Kansas will still have a head start on Missouri.

“You’re going to be able to have these folks that are just going to come over the border to place their wagers,” Iden said. “We’ve seen that traditionally across the country.”

Dylan Lysen reports on politics for the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanLysen or email him at dlysen (at) kcur (dot) org.

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.

Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.

See more at https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-08-18/kansas-kicks-off-sports-betting-sept-1-a-week-before-the-nfl-season.

Monarchs take first game with Winnipeg, 7-4

by G.M.W. Vaughan, Monarchs

Winnipeg, Manitoba – The Monarchs (50-31) crossed the Canadian border for the first time since 2019.

While the Goldeyes (46-35) got on board first, the fourth inning proved explosive for the Monarchs on a Casey Gillaspie grand slam home run.

The Monarchs start the series with a statement win in game one with a score of 7-4.

In the first inning, the Goldeyes showed they fully intended to keep the Monarchs from another reign as the first batter got grazed by a Nick Belzer pitch, followed by an Ian Sagdal base hit and an error that moved runners up.

A Max Murphy base hit scored the first two runs, ending the first inning with an early 2-0 lead for the Goldeyes.

In the second and third innings, the Goldeyes maintained their lead, but in the fourth inning, the Monarchs stepped on their toes, answering with a Mallex Smith early home run, cutting the lead in half, 2-1.

Then after a base hit by Robson and walks for Adams and Escarra, Gillaspie crushed a grand slam to end the inning with a solid 5-2 lead for the Monarchs.

The Goldeyes fought back in the sixth with a triple by Murphy that scored Sagdal and ended the inning with a 5-3 score.

The Goldeye bats continued to work in the seventh as Jacob Rhinesmith hit a double, but the Goldeyes couldn’t bring him home. At the end of the seventh, the score remained 5-3.

Travis Seabrook took the mound for the Goldeyes in the top of the eighth and walked both Matt Adams and Jan Hernandez, but the Monarchs failed to bring them home.

In the bottom of the eighth, Brian Glowicki relieved Belzer. Sagdal advanced to first on a base hit, followed by a pop fly by Murphy that was caught, then dropped, allowing Sagdal to score. The inning ended with a nail-biting 5-4 score.

Tasker Strobel took the mound for Winnipeg in the ninth. After a base hit for Gillaspie, Ryan Grotjohn hit a no-doubter two-run home run to right field, answering the questionable call with good karma for the Monarchs, 7-4.

Brandon Koch came to the rubber for the Monarchs in the bottom of the ninth, earning the save. The Monarchs won their first game in Manitoba since 2019, 7-4. The winning pitcher was Nick Belzer, and Landon Bourassa got the loss.

The Kansas City Monarchs and Winnipeg Goldeyes will play game two of the three-game series at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17, in Winnipeg. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

Reid wins sixth WyCo title; Favretto his first

Stuart Favretto and Donna Reid reigned as Wyandotte County golf champions, each winning by one shot. (Photo by Randy Smith)

by Alan Hoskins

The 46th annual Wyandotte County Open had a little of everything at Sunflower Hills Saturday and Sunday – big comebacks, a playoff, blown leads, a new champion, a repeat champion.

But the one constant was the consistency of Donna Reid on her way to her second consecutive women’s title and sixth overall. A longtime employee at Kansas City Kansas Community College, Reid, 72, fired back-to-back rounds of 90 and had 36 putts each day for a 180 and one-stroke win over former champion Pat Seber Bradley.

It took a one-hole playoff for newcomer Stuart Favretto of Overland Park to win the men’s championship at 151. Favretto edged longtime KCK favorite Kevin Rome in the sudden death playoff after frittering away a 6-shot lead with a closing 79 on Sunday. It was the third runnerup finish in the last five years for Rome, the 2018 champion.

The biggest comeback belonged to Reid, who trailed Seber Bradley by seven shots and Leslie Taylor by six with nine holes to go. However, while Reid was avoiding double bogeys her challengers ran into a bunch of them on Sunflower Hills’ difficult back nine, Seber Bradley closing with a 52 and Taylor 58 while Reid’s 44 clinched the win at 180.

“At one time there were four who could win, then three and finally two,” said Reid. “I just stayed consistent, three 3-putts and three one putts each day. The back nine I chipped better. The greens were fast and tough, a lot of breaks even on 3 and 4-footers.”

An errant tee shot on the first playoff hole (No. 10) proved fatal to Rome, who had an even par 72 after trailing Favretto by seven shots.

“I came over the top and hit it straight into the woods on the left side,” Rome said. Taking a drop, he hit his fourth shot to the back of green and bogeyed.

Meanwhile, the long-hitting Favretto was only 50 yards out on his tee shot.

“I had to punch a shot under a tree on the left side and two putted,” he said.

Rome had five birdies on Sunday, Nos. 3, 6, 10, 12 and 17 despite almost not playing in the tourney.

“It’s been a bad year,” he said. “I lost a brother in April, had COVID for about a month and then hurt my back two weeks ago. So I hadn’t played in two weeks. I was disappointed but happy with the way I played. The course was in great shape, the greens rolled well, everything was just excellent.”

For Faveretto, 33, it was only his fourth and fifth rounds at Sunflower Hills. Born in Canada, he moved from San Francisco to Overland Park a year and a half ago to work for Garmin in Olathe.

“My driver (which regularly has 300 yards of carry) was pretty good both days but the second day I was not hitting the greens and four-putted and three-putted. I was surprised I got into a playoff but that’s golf,” he said.

Flight winners were Jerry Reid, Vince Gerstner, Ian Bayless, Phil Stines and Tim Hinkle. Donna Nelson won the women’s second flight while Leslie Taylor had Kansas City’s longest putt.

46th Wyandotte County Open

Men

Championship flight -1. Stuart Favretto, 151; 2. Kevin Rome, 151; 3. Jacob Fratzel, 157, Favretto won one-hole playoff.

A – 1. Jerry Reid, 154; 2. Brian Shatto, 157; 3. Chris Faddis, 161; 4. Jake Kolich, 164; 5. Bob Stoddard, 166.

B – 1. Vince Gerstner, 161; 2. Stuart Hunt, 161; 3. Rick Egnatic, 162; 4. Tim Nick, 162; 5. Bob Chatterton, 164.

C – 1. Ian Bayless, 163; 2. James Hovey, 167; 3. Andy White, 168; 4. Les Damlo, 174’ 5. Phil Hoffman, 175.

D – 1. Phil Stines, 167; 2. Gary Burgess, 167; 3. Jason Lawrence, 169’ 4. Chris Sardou, 170; 5. Michael Klein, 174;


E – 1. Tim Hinkle, 182; 2 Rob Michalski, 184; 3. David Gonzales, 185; 4. Tom Butler, 186; 5. Josh Shultz, 187.

Women

A – Donna Reid, 180; 2. Pat Seber Bradley, 181. Leslie Taylor, 188.

B – 1. Donna Nelson, 198; 2. Linda Hume, 217; 3. Joyce Thomas, 225.
• – Won scorecard playoff.

Proximity prizes

Saturday


Closest to pin – Daron Maier, No. 4; Kevin Rome, No. 8; Vince Gerstner, No. 13; James Hovey, No. 16. Longest putt No. 9 – Tim Nick; Long drive No. 10 – Stuart Favretto.


Sunday


Closest to pin – Leslie Taylor, No. 4; Mike Gillaspie, No. 8; Ray Giesler, No. 13; Rick Egnatic, No. 16. Longest putt No. 9 – Gary Hudgens; Long drive No. 10 – Vince Giesler.