Betting now open on Nevada schools

Lisa Snedeker

Friday, Feb. 9, 2001 | 11:10 a.m.

The end of the longtime ban against accepting bets on games involving Nevada schools has brought some action at Las Vegas Strip sports books, and little at others.

The big winners are bettors who can now make immediate future book bets on the March NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Before the ban was eliminated by the Nevada Gaming Commission, sports books couldn't post NCAA future book odds until Nevada's two universities were eliminated from tournament contention.

"We've had a lot of action on the tournament," said Frank Beninati on Thursday at the Stardust hotel-casino. "Everyone's always asking about it and now they get to bet on it early."

The Stardust sports book listed last year's NCAA champion, Michigan State, at 5-1, just behind Duke at 3-1 and Stanford at 7-2 as the favorites to emerge from the 65-team tournament. No. 1-ranked North Carolina is at 5-1.

Some believe the ban might have cost sports books potentially millions of dollars in annual revenue. Other say the effect was negligible.

"It didn't cost us that much," said Chuck Cunningham, sports supervisor at the Imperial Palace hotel-casino. He said most people bet $10 on their favorite school during the tournament.

He also thinks lifting the ban won't have a lot of effect on Nevada sports books.

"Less than 1 percent of those attending a basketball game at UNLV will make a bet," Cunningham said. "We've seen very limited betting so far (on the UNR game)."

It's a different story at the Stardust where the line on the University of Nevada, Reno home game at Hawaii was put up Wednesday when the ban was lifted officially.

"We're seeing significant action," said Beninati, the Stardust's race and sports supervisor. "There's a lot of interest."