Nevada sports books seek boost from NFL

John Wilen

Friday, Sept. 4, 1998 | 11:47 a.m.

Tuesday afternoon found Ginny McArtor in the race and sports book at Bally's hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

McArtor's no tourist -- she lives here. And she's no race bettor -- she came to Bally's book to enter the casino's free female handicapper of the year football betting contest.

"I figure this would be a good way to try something, just to see what it's like," McArtor said.

McArtor didn't stay long. She signed up, handed in her first round of picks and took off. She doesn't plan to come into the book during the games. She'll just check the scores at home or on her way to the casino floor.

"I'll come in every week though, to do my sheets," she said.

McArtor represents a new element Nevada race and sports books are trying to reach as they strive to offset the effects of the first decline in overall wagering this decade. Bally's is the first sports book to specifically target women. Others are trying anything they can to attract fresh bodies, including offering football pools that either are free or have low entry fees, putting free parlay cards in cases of Budweiser, and in one case, redesigning the book to separate the sports and race betting areas.

According to Gaming Control Board statistics released last week, race and sports book handle -- the total amount wagered in Nevada -- decreased 3.7 percent in fiscal 1998, which ended June 30. The handle had increased steadily from $1.5 billion in 1990 to $2.5 billion in fiscal 1997. It fell to $2.4 billion in fiscal 1998.

With the NFL season beginning this weekend, the books are looking for a big boom in business from the most popular betting sport.

Bally's female handicapper pool -- in its third year -- is extremely popular, said Chris Eggers, Bally's race and sports book manager.

"It's our most popular contest, actually," Eggers said. "We have four times as many people in this as we do in the men's pools."

McArtor said she bets on football at Bally's simply because the contest is free. If not for that fact, she wouldn't bet on football at all, McArtor said.

That's the whole idea, Eggers said.

"They come in and they bet on other things, too," Eggers said.

At all books, the football pools are loss leaders designed to get people into the book who might never consider coming in, Eggers said. Once they learn what it's all about, many place side bets.

"We have a lot of ladies coming in here who play football," Eggers said. "A lot of ladies who never watched football now watch it and they're football fans."

The contest is so popular, Bally's book is considering targeting other promotions at women.

"It went so well, we might do something for NCAA basketball," Eggers said.

The Santa Fe hotel-casino's race and sports book isn't targeting women per se. But the book does hope to attract new people with its Football Free For All pool promotion.

"The football pools will attract folks who are new to Vegas, who need a reason to come to a casino for the first time," said Steve Klein, Santa Fe's race and sports book director.

The football pool promotion, also in its third year, works, Klein said.

"Since we've put in the contest, we've seen a lot more folks coming in to the sports book and to the casino itself," Klein said.

"It draws them into the property, and that's the key to the whole contest, to draw people into the property," agreed Tony Paonessa, race and sports book director at Sam's Town.

Sam's Town has offered a free pool for 15 years and does not consider it a book-only promotion.

"It also has general appeal," said Vince Manfredi, vice president of marketing at Sam's Town. "We consider it a property-wide promotion."

Though not specifically targeted at women, the football pools -- which allow people to pick winners and losers and not worry about the spread -- are conducive to women bettors, said Klein.

"It really takes no experience at all ... to be able to play in the football contest," Klein said.

Book executives say women typically constitute about 30 percent of their football-pool bettors, a far higher percentage than on other sports.

American Wagering Inc., which operates Leroy's race and sports books throughout Nevada, is providing free parlay cards in 12-packs of Budweiser sold in the state. The idea, President and Chief Executive Victor Salerno said, is, again, to get new people into the books.

"That's a new market," Salerno said. "When they buy the Bud, there's a coupon they bring into the books."

The MGM Grand has taken a somewhat different approach.

As part of the property's ongoing renovation, the race and sports book has been redesigned to separate the race betting area from the sports betting area. The idea is to give race bettors a quiet sanctuary from their more excitable sports counterparts. It's too early to tell whether the new configuration will boost business, but it's definitely attracting sightseers, said Will Hall, MGM race and sports book director.

"I've noticed a lot of locals coming in to take a peek at this," Hall said.

No matter what the configuration, Hall expects football season to boost his bottom line.

"It really seems to be the one common sport," Hall said. "The people are like sleeping bears that don't show up, but come football, the people come."

Hall says he hasn't noticed the wagering decline recorded by the Gaming Control Board, but noted that his book just completed four months of renovations. But others, including Leroy's, Sam's Town and the Santa Fe, have definitely felt the decline.

Most blame the lower handle on more strict enforcement of messenger-betting prohibitions by the Gaming Control Board.

"That is indicative of the crackdown that gaming control is doing against the so-called messenger bettors," said Klein. "The gaming syndicates have been slowed down considerably."

A lot of the bets that had been placed with messengers here are now being placed via messenger at Caribbean books, asserts American Wagering's Salerno -- all the more reason to drum up more business at home.

"We'd really like to get back people that we're losing to the Caribbean," Salerno said.

The pools and promotions are working for some, such as McArtor, who lives close to Palace Station but went to Bally's because its pool is free. But they don't work for everyone.

Tuesday afternoon also found Tracy and Rocky Dilarios at Bally's. Back in Vegas after several years in the Far East, the Dilarios were betting the horses. They like Bally's, Rocky said, because "It's very quiet. Nobody bothers you."

Unfortunately for Bally's and the other books competing for handle, the Dilarios have no plans to bet on football.