Gambling on UNR, UNLV games debated

Brendan Riley

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2001 | 11:18 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Gaming Commission's recent decision to lift a long-standing ban on gambling on Nevada college sports teams was questioned Wednesday during a legislative budget hearing.

As Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means members reviewed the proposed budget for the state's casino regulatory programs, Sen. Bob Coffin asked whether the decision had been carefully thought out.

Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said he could see problems with students placing bets on games in which friends and even roommates are participating. "The first time a game is fixed, we're done for," he added.

Dennis Neilander, chairman of the state Gaming Control Board, said he understood Coffin's concerns but that the regulators' decision would allow for better oversight.

Neilander, whose board is the enforcement arm for the policy-setting Gaming Commission, said GCB agents checking legal betting locations could easily spot odd patterns in pre-game betting -- indicators of possible "nefarious" activity.

Without the legal betting on Nevada college sports, Neilander said illegal wagers on the games would occur anyway -- and his agents wouldn't have the same easy access to betting information.

The Gaming Commission's decision was criticized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which is seeking a nationwide ban on all betting on all college sports.

The new rules mean that for the first time since the 1950s betting will be allowed on games played by UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno, and on games played by other college teams in Nevada.

The commission also added a new category, illegal sports bettors, to the "notorious or unsavory" section of the gambling industry's "black book" of people banned in Nevada casinos.

It didn't limit the size of bets that a bettor can place on college games, but set a $3,000 reporting threshold and ordered casinos to identify and report any unusual wagers by individuals or groups.

The commission also prohibited casinos from knowingly accepting bets from college athletes and coaches on their own games.

And it restated its rule against taking bets on amateur, high school or Olympic games.