Sports betting winners and losers: Is this a Chris Christie win? He sure thinks so.

Charles Stile | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Supreme Court strikes down ban on sports betting Supreme Court struck down a down ban on sports betting on Monday, May 14, 2018.

The U.S. Supreme Court has effectively lifted the ban on legal sports betting in New Jersey. Here are five key takeaways on how that decision could shape the political legacies for those on both sides of the decades-long fight that ended Monday.

Big win for Chris Christie

The ex-governor took a victory lap on Twitter minutes after the Supreme Court announced its decision, and rightly so. His challenge — that Congress had no right to dictate how a state governs itself — found a receptive audience in the more conservative-leaning Supreme Court. The ruling certainly adds a positive postscript to Christie’s legacy, but it may take years before voters can erase the memory of the sun-soaking Christie sitting in a beach chair during a government shutdown.

A great day for the rights of states and their people to make their own decisions. New Jersey citizens wanted sports gambling and the federal Gov't had no right to tell them no. The Supreme Court agrees with us today. I am proud to have fought for the rights of the people of NJ. — Governor Christie (@GovChristie) May 14, 2018

Vindication for Trump?

More than 25 years ago, then-casino mogul Donald Trump quarterbacked Atlantic City’s failed drive in Trenton to get sports betting placed on the November 1993 ballot for voter approval. Trump lobbied by using some of the same arguments that pro-sports-betting allies would use a generation later. But in the early 1990s, the king of the New York tabloids proved to be a polarizing figure. And casinos didn’t help their cause with expensive, ham-handed tactics like corralling gamblers who had just arrived on chartered buses and putting them on the phone with legislators. Trump's casino empire began to crumble in the years after the sports betting defeat. But will he now take a long-delayed victory lap? Not likely. His administration joined with the professional sports leagues in opposing Christie's attempt to overturn sports betting law.

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Asterisk for Bradley’s legacy

Although sports betting supporters pushed for the law to enhance New Jersey casinos' competitive edge, it was then-U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J. who authored the federal law that banned sports betting. Bradley, a Hall of Fame star for the New York Knicks, feared that sports betting would corrupt professional sports. "I think athletes are persons. I don't like them being turned into roulette chips,’’ Bradley said at the time. Bradley would help mobilize the coalitions that defeated Jersey’s effort in 1993. On Monday, the Supreme Court was not swayed by those sentiments.

Windfall or wildcard for Murphy?

Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, has spent the past few months criticizing his predecessor, Christie, and pushing to roll back Christie-era laws and regulations. But Monday, he singled out Christie for praise for his part in the court victory, as well as former state Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, a longtime champion of sports betting. But how Murphy will benefit from the court’s decision remains to be seen. Democrats who control the Legislature have been cool to his planned tax hikes, and they may seize on possible sports wagering revenue as an excuse not to raise taxes.

Limited benefits for New Jersey?

While the legal gambling community in New Jersey has been preparing for a quick launch, its East Coast advantage may be short-lived. Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania have recently enacted laws to offer legal betting if the court sided with New Jersey. Fourteen other states have introduced sports gambling legislation in recent sessions, according to a Bloomberg News report.