David Zerfing, the General Manager of Valley Forge Casino Resort, has a lengthy history in the sports betting realm as he spent 10 years in Vegas while working side-by-side with legendary Vegas bookmaker Johnny Avello.
Both Zerfing and Avello have now found themselves as top executives at two of the biggest sportsbooks in “Vegas East” – which is the Pennsylvania – New Jersey area. Zerfing’s Valley Forge property is aligned with FanDuel Sportsbook (which launched last month), while Avello is heading the online book at DraftKings.
“I learned a lot from [Avello] and from working in Vegas as a whole, but sports betting has changed dramatically from the early 2000s when I was there to where it is right now,” Zerfing told MetroBet in an exclusive interview. “When I was in Vegas, people were betting moneyline games and point spreads and parlay cards but there’s so much more available now. You used to have prop bets for just the Super Bowl but now those props can be taken on almost every game. It’s just evolved significantly.”
Zerfing is truly excited to be back in the sports betting game in his native state of Pennsylvania, and he is highly optimistic that PA can become the leader in legal sports betting, not just in the Northeast, but in the nation.
“You see New Jersey is pushing Nevada right now and I think Pennsylvania will as well,” Zerfing said. “The online piece I think is actually going to be stronger in Pennsylvania than it is in New Jersey as the population base is huge. People have been betting on sports online for a long time with the Caribbean books and now it’s just a matter of converting them to do it legally. I think PA will pass Nevada also, just like Jersey.”
As many sports bettors in PA and NJ are finding out right now, you can get a ton of free betting money when signing up. FanDuel currently has one of the industry’s top offers as you can get up to $500 in risk free money through MetroBet by going to tinyurl.com/y665pabz.
“The partnership with FanDuel has been working out great so far. In New Jersey it’s been around 80 percent of all the bets come in online and we’re actually above those numbers right now on the internet side,” Zerfing told MetroBet. “The risk free $500 bet worked very well in New Jersey last year and there will be enhanced odds bets as well [during the NFL season]. So if a team is -200 you may be able to get them for even money or even +100. There will also be close loss insurance games where if the team you bet on loses by less than six points then you can get a portion of your bet back. And there will be more contests as the season goes on. FanDuel is very innovative.”
