Mayor has more talks on Internet gambling

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

Intent on seeking out new ways for the city to market itself and increase revenues, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman met last week with officials from an online casino interested in using the city's name and official seal in its venture.

On Thursday the mayor had the second of two meetings with officials from Virtgame.com, a City Hall official said. Headquartered in San Diego, the company has "developed a technology that identifies the geographic location of a customer, allowing Internet gaming to be offered only to targeted markets in targeted geographic regions," according to its website.

Goodman has touted the idea of lending the city's name to a casino website since last year, when VegasOne.com, an Australian-based Internet site, proposed the idea. Goodman, however, abstained from the item after learning of a possible conflict of interest -- his law firm had once represented a likely investor, Bob Stupak.

After Goodman discovered his conflict of interest, two council members who supported the proposal also abstained. Other council members worried about liability issues, including how the city would restrict the use of the site by teens and residents of countries where gaming is illegal.

If the city had sold its name to the proposed Internet casino based in Australia, it would have received 25 percent of the company's profits.

If the city served in a regulatory capacity it would have received 5 percent of the gross gaming revenues and netted an estimated $90 million annually, the company estimated.

Currently Nevada law prohibits gaming companies from accepting wagers via the Internet. But several companies have set up online casinos based in other countries that take bets over the Internet.

During the 2001 legislative session, members acknowledged that online gaming is on the horizon, and in June passed Assembly Bill 466, which allows Nevada regulators to establish rules for casinos in launching interactive gaming.