Gaming regulators reject oddsmaker with ties to New York bookmaking

Thursday, May 8, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The three-member Nevada Gaming Control Board unanimously rejected the application for licensing as a key employee of Zacharie "Pittsburgh Jack" Franzi, who sets sports lines at the Gold Coast, Barbary Coast and The Orleans casinos.

The decision, if upheld by the Nevada Gaming Commission later this month,

will force the 69-year-old Franzi to retire as a casino oddsmaker.

"I personally don't believe Mr. Franzi should be part of this industry," said control board Chairman Bill Bible.

Franzi was a friend of convicted New York bookmaker Danny Kramer, whose so-called Kosher Boys betting ring stretched from upstate New York to the Caribbean with a satellite office in Las Vegas.

Kramer has pleaded guilty to bookmaking and fixing a harness race at Yonkers Raceway in New York. He was fined $2 million but is not facing any jail time for the operation that received its nickname for its policy of not placing bets during Jewish holidays.

Control board investigators believe that Franzi was the "money man" for Kramer's Las Vegas operation, placing wagers at local sports books and safeguarding money that some days totaled as much as $300,000.

New York prosecutors were unable to link Franzi to any criminal wrongdoing, and he was never charged in the case. He was required to apply for a state gaming license after investigators discovered he did not have one.

Control board investigators believe Franzi illegally placed wagers for Kramer's betting operation, offsetting potential losses at its East Coast betting rooms.

The practice - known as middling or balancing the books -is employed by licensed sports books and requires that an even amount of money be wagered on both teams in the same game.

The result: The bookmaker doesn't lose money on the game and makes its profit from the commission, or vigorish, charged on each bet.

Investigators believe Kramer was monitoring his operation's betting activity around the country, then offsetting potential losses by middling his bets in Las Vegas with Franzi's help.

Franzi, an 18-year Barbary Coast employee, said Wednesday that he never placed any bets for his friend of 10 years and was unaware of any wrongdoing by Kramer.