Lines long as Delaware takes NFL bets

WILMINGTON - Patrick Schafferman waited 20 minutes in line yesterday morning to place a $40 bet. For the first NFL Sunday since 1976, gambling on football games was legal in Delaware, and Schafferman, who has come to Delaware Park since he was a kid, said he wasn't going to miss out.

Schafferman, 40, of Newark, took the Eagles, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Minnesota Vikings in his three-team parlay bet. He paid the cashier, took his ticket, and left to watch his son play a football game.

Hours later, he returned $220 richer without much of an explanation. "It's not easy," he said, shrugging.

On the first day gamblers could win or lose their parlay wagers in Delaware, there was more losing than winning. That's the nature of a parlay - a bet that favors the house because winners must choose at least three games correctly.

Bettors had several options on the format, but in all of them the challenge included picking winners against a point spread.

Those who waited out long lines in the morning to play and then stayed at Delaware Park to watch the games with fellow bettors fervently cheered and heckled with the ups and downs that come with an NFL Sunday.

This time, it was with money on the line.

"I love the energy," said Louis Dobrick, a 39-year-old professional poker player from Atlantic City. Having never ventured to Delaware to gamble, he had made the trip with a friend out of curiosity, he said.

The day ended with Dobrick and his friend down $220.

"It's hard enough to win one game," Dobrick said, "and they have you betting three."

He put $200 on a four-team parlay and, before halftime of the early games, he had a good idea he wouldn't be winning. One of his picks, the Carolina Panthers, already trailed the Eagles by 21 points.

There was plenty of hope in the morning, when people lined up to place bets. And there were blunders, too. Chad Davis, 34, of Harrisburg, said he had waited more than 45 minutes in line. Delaware Park had four cashiers and two machines, but they were not enough for the final rush before the 1 p.m. kickoffs.

Andrew Gentile, chief operating officer of Delaware Park, said the delays had been caused by a system error that required some of the bets to be transmitted to Las Vegas to be reviewed before being approved.

"We had lines a few hundred deep," Gentile said.

As 37-year-old Baltimore resident Dominic Fama walked into Delaware Park with two friends, he said, a departing man told them not to bother with the lines and just leave.

Despite the delays, Gentile said the day had been better than expected for the sports betting. He declined to say how many wagers had been placed. The state is expected to release numbers Friday.

Most of the nine early games were displayed on 26 new plasma TVs that Delaware Park had installed, but not every game was shown, despite promises. At one point, as many TVs (four) showed the Phillies-Mets game as the Eagles-Panthers game.

But at the crucial moment for many bettors, the area created a congenial atmosphere. With less than a minute remaining in the Baltimore-Kansas City game, some bettors stood and cheered loudly as the Ravens scored a touchdown to cover the 131/2-point spread.

The score clinched a $180 victory for one of Fama's friends, who declined to identify himself.

Others were not as lucky. But most were captivated by the novelty of legally betting on games and following them with fellow gamblers.

Stuffing his fresh cash in his wallet, Schafferman lamented that Delaware could not offer more than parlay bets because of an appeals court ruling.

But he was a winner anyway.

"We'll be back," Schafferman said. Then he looked at his partner, Brian Draper, and smiled.

"We might be back tomorrow night."