The director of West Virginia Lottery, John Myers, issued a public apology on Wednesday, expressing his regret of having authorized wagering on political races.
It was first reported that the state had become the first one to offer legal betting on politics after operators were given the go-ahead by the Lottery. However, within an hour of one of the contractors, FanDuel posting odds on the current presidential race, the market was closed and all bets were off.
The bookmaker posted odds on the White House race, making Trump a slight favorite over his Democrat rival, Joe Biden.
A hour later, FanDuel retracted its decision to post odds, saying that “while the markets were approved, the West Virginia Lottery has asked FanDuel to refrain from offering the markets until they have time to fully work through the implications of this new market offering.”
On Wednesday, the Lottery irector was forced to issue a statement, admitting that the decision to allow political betting was taken without informing Governor Jim Justice.
In his statement, Myers said: “I thought it would be OK, but after review it was clearly a mistake.”
“We just screwed up,” admitted Myers. “I didn’t have the authority to do it, it should have never happened and I apologize to everyone.”
It was later reported that one of the reasons that the Governor acted so swiftly to bring an end to West Virginia political betting, was that he and his family own the Greenbrier Casino and Resort. This is the property where FanDuel operates its sportsbook from, and Justice was not happy that his casino was on record to become the first in the state’s history to start this type of betting market.
The state’s Secretary of State, Mac Warner, also issue a statement, saying that if the wagering markets were allowed, the Lottery would be breaking a state law passed in 1868.
“Gambling on the outcome of an election has no place in our American democracy,” warned Warner. “Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.”
