betr has notified players that it is now able to accept real money sports bets in Ohio after a nearly two-week-long soft launch period.
The micro-betting operator founded by Joey Levy and Jake Paul has labeled its soft launch period a success, despite users in Ohio questioning why they couldn’t place real money bets almost two weeks after the state went live on Jan 1.
Entering the Buckeye State via a 10-year agreement with the Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company, betr has claimed that it has set a US online sports betting record for the fastest launch from company founding to a fully licensed and regulated real money betting product.
“We are thrilled to launch our real money betting business at betr in Ohio,” said Levy. “This launch marks the beginning of our gradual, methodical approach to state-by-state expansion where we will take the time necessary to discover and validate the product-market fit of our highly differentiated product experience to ensure we scale in a profitable manner.
“This launch also sets a US online sports betting record for the fastest launch from company founding to a fully licensed and regulated real money betting product, speaking to the capabilities of the betr team to execute quickly and efficiently.”
Players in Ohio raised an issue with betr’s customer service team last week, concerned that they were unable to place real money wagers.
The firm’s team replied to those concerned players on Jan 11, noting that they were ‘actually hoping to enable deposits later today’, though the rollout did not occur until Jan 13, instead.
Now fully live and accepting wagers, betr is gearing up towards the Super Bowl next month, offering a $1m promotion for Ohio users. The first Ohio user to hit a winning streak of 30 qualifying micro-bets in a row will win $1m. If no one hits 30 qualifying micro-bets in a row, betr will award $50,000 to the single longest winning streak of qualifying real money bets in Ohio.
“I couldn’t be happier that my home state of Ohio is the first to receive access to betr’s real money gaming product,” said Paul.
“People are going to love watching and rooting for bets tied directly to their favorite players, whether it’s a Donovan Mitchell 3-pointer, a Ja’Marr Chase 50-yard bomb, or a Jose Ramirez home run. betr makes every game more fun by adding these stakes throughout. Download today and bet responsibly.”
Meanwhile, betr is awaiting a decision from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on whether it will be awarded an untethered mobile sports betting license in the state.
Last week, Paul gave evidence to the commission, who were concerned over some of his antics in the past which has got him into legal issues.
The Ohio native and company co-founder told the regulators: “The reality of my life as a young and highly visible digital creator was quite different than the normal teenage experience. The best way to sum it up is that everything is exponentially magnified. You live, quite literally, under a microscope, and you certainly get more opportunities, but you’re also taken advantage of more often; mistakes magnified, publicized, and re-publicized.
“And you become a bigger target for frivolous claims, lawsuits, media headlines, and many, many other interests for competitors and for people to make money off your demise.”
