- USBookmaking has been approved to operate the sportsbook at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City.
- USBookmaking was founded by legendary Las Vegas bookmaker Vic Salerno and is now a subsidiary of Elys Game Technology.
- The Ocean Casino/US Bookmaking retail sportsbook will operate in a temporary location while a permanent sportsbook is constructed.
USBookmaking’s parent company Elys Game Technology has announced that they’ve been approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement to operate the retail sportsbook at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City. The company’s petition–made jointly with Ocean Casino Resort–has been approved for six months and subject to the approval of the technology installed to operate the sportsbook. The sportsbook as of yet doesn’t appear to have a a name beyond ‘Sports Betting at Ocean’ though I doubt this will be their final iteration. The bookmaking operation will be in a temporary location while a permanent facility is under construction. Elys confirmed that the first bet is already in the books in a Tweet sent earlier today.
The new facility will ‘blend an entertaining bar, lounge and gaming experience with sports wagering’. Ocean announced the facility’s construction in a press release on January 19, 2022:
Ocean Casino Resort will begin construction in March of a new venue that will blend an entertaining bar, lounge, and gaming experience with sports wagering. Following last year’s $15 million casino floor redesign, today’s announcement confirms Ocean’s position as the East Coast’s premier gaming destination. The $4 million concept is scheduled to make its debut this summer with trading management services provided in partnership with USBookmaking, a subsidiary of Elys Game Technology, Corp, pending regulatory approval from New Jersey’s gaming regulators.
The press release wasn’t forthcoming with many details about the project other than USBookmaking’s involvement:
More information, including timeline, concept, and design details, will be announced later this year.
The Ocean website isn’t much more detailed with plans:
Please pardon our appearance while we work to bring you an innovative new gaming experience; which will blend bar, lounge, and gaming with sports wagering! While the venue is under construction, fans can still place sports wagers at two betting windows. To catch all your favorite live sporting events, visit 1927 Lounge.
John Salerno, Director of Operations of USBookmaking, had this to say about the new partnership with Ocean Casino:
“Atlantic City is one of the top sports betting and resort destinations in the country and Ocean is one of the most prestigious properties in the area. We are delighted to begin our commercial partnership today with Ocean and their professional leadership and operational teams, and we also look forward to bringing new and unique sports betting products and services to New Jersey players.”
Michele Ciavarella, Executive Chairman of Elys Game Technology, shared this sentiment:
“We are very proud of our engineering and deployment teams at Odissea and USBookmaking for developing and delivering the new sportsbook platform at Ocean on-time while meeting the rigorous standards of the NJDGE Technical Service Bureau. We plan to continue to work closely with the NJDGE in expanding our operational footprint and product diversification and believe that the soft launch today at Ocean is a key inflection point for our expansion in North America and a key component of our growth strategy within other casinos and partnerships with small businesses, as well as further development of the Company’s mobile platforms in 2022.”
In September 2021, gaming technology company Elys Game Technology announced that they had completed the acquisition of US Bookmaking. In the press release announcing the closure of the deal, Elys indicated that US Bookmaking was a key component of their plan to gain market share in the US sports betting ecosystem. The press release indicated that US Bookmaking’s operations would continue as before. In December, they announced that they would be taking over the operation of the Ocean Casino Resort sportsbook. Previously, the sportsbook was operated by William Hill but since the company’s takeover by Caesars Entertainment they look to be extricating themselves from third party sportsbook management. As is the case at many sportsbooks previously run by William Hill throughout the US, all references to the company were scrubbed from the Ocean Casino Resort website long before the announcement of USBookmaking’s involvement.
US Bookmaking was founded by legendary Las Vegas bookmaker Vic Salerno and had carved out a niche providing retail sports betting services to a number of tribal gaming properties. US Bookmaking’s clients include Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel, Isleta Resort & Casino and Santa Claran Hotel Casino in New Mexico, the Odawa Casino Resort in Michigan, the Sky Ute Casino Resort in Colorado and the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge in North Dakota. They also power the mobile betting platform for Colorado’s Sky Ute Casino. Nice to see them operating in the Atlantic City market. Salerno is a legitimate legend in the Las Vegas bookmaking community and the business is better when he’s involved in it.
