Sports parimutuel betting recommended

Wednesday, June 4, 1997 | 10:34 a.m.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board voted Wednesday to recommend a one-year limited license for the "Mega$ports" venture. The board's parent Gaming Commission will have final say at a June 19 meeting here.

While "Mega$ports" was recommended, the board held back on a related plan by an American Wagering subsidiary to make and distribute parimutuel betting systems - partly because of concerns about possible links to a notorious Mexican gambling figure.

"Mega$ports" could have great potential for sports books, long viewed as more of a convenience for hard-core sports fans than a profit center for casinos.

And it could mean big bucks for bettors lucky enough to beat the astronomical odds of picking 18 to 22 winners on a variety of sporting propositions.

The system would be offered at three Hilton Hotels Corp. casinos, five Station Casino Inc. properties and 41 Leroy's Sports Place books in casinos throughout the state beginning this summer.

The system uses the same theory behind exotic wagering in horse betting and multi-site progressive slot machines - pooling bets to build huge jackpots.

"Exotics" such as Pick-6 wagering call for race bettors to pick the winners of six races - a daunting task that allows prize pools to reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mega$ports will accept wagering on daily and weekly events, with the latter offering prize pools starting at $1 million, according to American Wagering marketing director Steve Holden.

"All casinos that participate in Mega$sports will be linked together and the progressive prize will be determined by the volume of betting," Holden said. "If nobody wins for three or four weeks, the prize could be huge."

The board's concerns focused in part on Computerized Bookmaking Systems Inc., an American Wagering subsidiary, and any ties with Tijuana's Agua Caliente racetrack, run by Jorge Hank Rhon.

GCB Chairman Bill Bible said after the board meeting that Hank "has been at the center of a great deal of controversy and allegations, and because of the nature of those allegations we felt it was necessary to severely limit any relationships our licensees have" with the racetrack.

American bought CBS from Autotote Corp. last November, and the board was worried about any dealings with Agua Caliente because of electronic device sales to the track in the past.

Hank, known as the "gambling king of Northern Mexico," reportedly has ties to the Arellano Felix drug cartel based in Tijuana, according to documents provided to the Control Board.

The documents also recount that two members of Hank's racetrack security staff were convicted of murdering a newspaper columnist in Tijuana. Hank also faced smuggling charges.