Columnist Jon Ralston: Welcome to Las Vegas, but why are you here?

Sunday, Feb. 20, 2000 | 10:04 a.m.

Imagine strolling into a movie theater and being greeted by a sign flashing this message: "Don't come see this film. Go to Blockbuster and rent one instead."

Or imagine arriving at Disneyland only to come face-to-face with a billboard emblazoned with this admonition: "What are you doing here? Legoland is much better."

Sounds insane, no? Yes, those are fantasy scenarios. But they are analogous to what the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has been doing with a couple of its message boards: Advertising a pair of Internet gaming sites, GoCasino.com and GoCharityBets.com.

It's almost unfathomable. The agency responsible for promoting Las Vegas and luring tourists to the city is using its signs to promote one of the single most pernicious threats to Las Vegas' prosperity. Why not just switch them for a neon "Get out of town and go fire up your modem instead" sign.

Oh, and one other niggling point, too: Internet gaming is illegal here.

By the end of the day Friday, presumably mortified convention authority officials had arranged for the ads to be pulled and were trying to shore up procedures with the company that owns the signs, ESCN.

"We just weren't notified," said the convention authority's Rossi Ralenkotter.

GoCasino.com and GoCharityBets.com are run by GoCall Inc., a publicly traded company. GoCasino.com links to BetsonTheNet.com, which allows customers to wager on sports. The home page also has a flashing plea: "Vote Against Anti-gambling legislation."

I assume that not only refers to the NCAA betting ban but also, perhaps, to Sen. Richard Bryan's Internet gambling prohibition legislation.

The parent company operates under a gaming license granted by the government of Antigua, and its website does warn prospective bettors to check with local authorities as to the legality of online gaming.

Speaking of legalities, since Internet gaming is barred in Nevada statutes, it could be argued that the LVCVA actually broke the law by enticing anyone seeing the sign to participate in an illegal activity.

There also is a county code that bans any ads that are "untrue, deceptive or misleading," which could be used in this case because the online gaming messages have the implicit imprimatur of the LVCVA.

Oh, I'm sure no one will actually press charges. Even Gondolier Numero Uno Sheldon Adelson, the bane of the LVCVA, wouldn't be that humorless, would he?

This is all very incestuous, too. GoCall actually exhibited its wares at the 1999 CES show at the convention center, giving away free play certificates to attendees.

And a few months ago, GoCall announced that Sid Diamond, former race and sports director for Circus Circus Enterprises, had been appointed as the company's gaming adviser.

If you want to know just how big this business has become, GoCall's site reports that wagering on GoCasino.com increased to a total of $36.5 million from January 1999 to August 1999.

"GoCasino.com allows people to play their favorite casino games for real money, in real time, at a higher payout than traditional casinos," the site asserts.

Yes, indeed, folks, Get the "thrills and excitement of Las Vegas in (your) own home," as the site proclaims. No reason to come here when you can do it online.

Considering the precedent set by these ads, perhaps the LVCVA could consider some other solicitations to use the message boards. Perhaps the cities of Paris, Venice and Bellagio want to put up invitations: "Don't settle for imitations. Come see the real thing on your next vacation."

Or perhaps, in the spirit of fairness, the LVCVA should allow gaming antagonists Frank Wolf and Tom Grey to put up scriptural messages or more Dante-esque exhortations -- I think a flashing "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" would be quite helpful.

Perhaps it's time the LVCVA started advertising Indian casinos on these boards. After all, in a few weeks expanded tribal resorts will be legal in California.

By the end of the year, most of the major properties here will be Indian investors, anyhow. And someday, some might even be trying the Internet, too.

Maybe the LVCVA folks were visionaries. It's all one, big happy gaming world now.