Sports book Black Book proposed in Nevada

Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 | 11:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- In an effort to persuade Congress not to outlaw betting on collegiate sports, the state Gaming Commission has unveiled several new proposals, including starting a Black Book that would ban illegitimate bettors from Nevada's sports books.

Commission Chairman Brian Sandoval outlined several new proposed regulations and said there would be three more hearings before any final action is taken. He invited the NCAA to appear at the hearings to discuss its concerns.

The NCAA has been pushing Congress to stop Nevada from taking bets on college games, saying it leads to corruption and other problems with students. This session of Congress probably won't approve any legislation but it is expected to appear in 2001. Nevada is the only state that permits college sports betting.

Sandoval made it clear he doesn't believe the claims of the NCAA. "No evidence has ever been presented to this commission that indicates that legal sports betting in Nevada has compromised the integrity of any athletic contest at any time or place."

The commission's plan to review its regulations, Sandoval said, "has been mischaracterized by the NCAA as an acknowledgement that there is a link between legal sports betting in Nevada and the epidemic of illegal sports betting outside this state."

His invitation to the NCAA, he said, was not a challenge. "We need to work together. We both agree there is an epidemic of illegal betting outside of Nevada." So far, he said the state gaming regulators and the NCAA have been talking only through the media and press releases.

"If they have something substantial, the commission needs to know," he said.

The NCAA was not yet prepared to issue a response to Sandoval's invitation this morning.

"If we get an invitation, we'll discuss it," said Jane Jankowski, an NCAA spokeswoman. "We haven't had the opportunity to talk about what our plans might be."

The organization, however, has called Sandoval's initial proposals to limit college betting "simply a smoke screen," and appeared determined to continue pressing for a total ban on college betting.

"(The commission) still can't seem to get it right that betting on young people in all instances is wrong," the NCAA said in an Oct. 12 statement. "From the NCAA's standpoint, these proposals are a clever attempt to derail federal legislation the association has supported to ban sports wagering on amateur athletics.

"The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering. We continue to support this legislation."

Sandoval said there have been allegations against the state and its sport wagering system and he added, "I respectfully suggest casino officials agreed to work with the commission in developing new regulations." But Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, told the gaming commission that the NCAA never once came forward at hearings of the National Gaming Commission to propose outlawing betting in Nevada."

"They (the NCAA) never indicated there was a problem in Nevada," said Bible, who was a member of that national study on gaming. The national commission, Bible said, was critical of the NCAA for its poor policing of its sports programs and now the group is trying "to deflect their internal problems into Nevada."

The NCAA, however, has said the Sandoval proposal "acknowledg(es), as the NCAA has said, that illegal bookmakers come to Nevada to lay off large sums of money."

Bible and others declined to comment on the suggestions being made to tighten the reins on the sports book. He said he wanted a chance to study them and talk with his members, which are mostly big-time Las Vegas casinos.

But Sandoval indicated he might be willing to relax one proposal that has been made. It called for a bet limit of $550 on a single game. That proposal has drawn the most controversy so far. And the chairman said that figure was "not etched in stone. It's a starting point."

Among the new proposals outlined by Sandoval Thursday were the Black Book, exploring if technology is available that would allow the books to report the identity of patrons whose betting exceeds certain threshholds to the Gaming Control Board and prohibiting licensees from accepting bets from persons who refuse to provide personal information.

There have been earlier suggestions to ban legal betting on high school and Olympic sports; allowing betting on UNLV and UNR games and prohibiting sports books from accepting wagers from college coaches and athletes.

Sandoval said there presently is no betting on high school sports and little wagering activity on the Olympics.

The prohibition on betting on UNLV and UNR games was imposed 40 years ago when the state's regulatory system was new and the population was small. He said a new regulatory system makes this regulation unnecessary.

"In addition, the removal of the regulation will help protect Nevada athletes from illegal betting that occurs on their games," he said. The reasoning is that regulators could detect illegal bets or other problems by watching for unusual betting activity on the Nevada teams' games.

A workshop on the proposed regulations is set for Nov. 16 in Las Vegas. There will be hearings at the regular commission meetings in November and December before action is taken.

During the meeting, Sandoval gave a spirited defense of Nevada gambling and its strict regulations. Nevada sports books accept about $2.5 billion in wagers a year compared to the estimated $350 billion in illegal betting outside the state.

Sports books in Nevada must comply with "vigorous enforcement standards and auditing procedures," the chairman said. And the books themselves monitor the betting to make sure there won't be a fixed game.

"Without the vigilance of Nevada regulators and sports books, a point-shaving scandal at Arizona State University may not have been detected and brought to the attention of the NCAA and law enforcement agencies," Sandoval said.