In the midst of a crowd of dozens picked to place the first legal sports bets in the state’s history, Claudia Gabriel reminded her fellow bettors to note the nature of the occasion.

“This is exciting! We’re making history!” she shouted to the 31 others waiting in line next to a bank of unoccupied betting kiosks at Encore Boston Harbor Tuesday morning.

She wondered out loud if those waiting should be cheering.

“Let’s get excited!” she said, dancing in place.

Gabriel, of Lowell, was one of 32 people picked by the casino to be among the first statewide to make use of its newest industry. With her bet, placed at 10 a.m., after years of falling behind surrounding jurisdictions, Massachusetts became the latest state to allow wagers on most professional and college sports.

Following a nearly one-hour trip down to Encore that morning from the Merrimack Valley, Gabriel was able to legally place a $50 bet on the Philadelphia Eagles to win the Super Bowl, in memory of a relative who passed recently, and wager $50 on the Bruins, because they’re doing so very well.

Gabriel had won her place in line after taking part in a series of drawings at the casino, she said, the winners each receiving the honor of being among the first civilians to make a legal bet.

She and the other drawing winners were not the only people waiting to wager: a line formed just outside the newly opened WynnBET sportsbook more than an hour before the casino started taking bets from regular players.

It grew steadily longer as the crowd waited for the ceremony to end, each gambler standing patiently as a lineup of well-known names in sport and the politicians responsible for pushing through the law that legalized gambling on games placed their own bets.

House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz and Beverly Rep. Jerry Parisella both bet $50, Michelwitz on the Bruins and Celtics, Parisella on the Kansas City Chiefs.

House Speaker Ron Mariano bet “$50 on the Celtics to win it all, and $50 on the Bruins to win it all” shortly after acknowledging that the law was a long time in coming.

“It was worth the wait, we’re excited for it,” he said.

Mariano said he chose Encore to make his first legal wager over the state’s other two casinos, MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, because of proximity.

Olympic Gold Medal-winning defense woman Angela Ruggiero bet $50 on the Bruins because, well, hockey.

Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon bet on the Eagles but didn’t say how much. Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell put $100 on the Eagles.

“That’s all I’m saying,” he said.

“Same bet, money line, I hope they both lose,” former Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light said after.

Former Patriots cornerback Ty Law stunned the crowd by upping the ante.

“Yall being cheap,” Law said. “I’m going to go $1,000 on the Celtics to win it all, and I gotta keep 24 in there, $240 on the Chiefs.”

Former Bruins left wing Shawn Thornton said he was putting “$500 on the Eagles to cover.”

The event was emceed by sportscaster Sean McDonough.

With the passage of an Act regulating sports wagering this summer, Massachusetts became the fifth New England State and joined dozens of others and the District of Columbia in allowing adults over 21 years of age to bet on sports.

The practice had been illegal outside Nevada until the U.S. Supreme Court, in 2018, struck down the 1992 law which banned states from regulating their own betting industries.

Bets can only be placed in person, for now, but the state will allow half-a-dozen companies to operate mobile-only platforms as of March, and each casino and racetrack in the state will get to launch their own online operations.

Sports betting, which many contend was occurring anyway if illegally, may now bring anywhere from $35 million to $70 million into the state’s coffers annually.