Basketball betting a big draw for visitors

Steve Guiremand

Monday, March 19, 2001 | 10:47 a.m.

Burt Abron made the trip in from Carson, Calif.

Jim Kirchhoefer had a longer commute from Omaha, Neb.

But both found themselves at the jam-packed sports book at the Stardust this weekend for the same reason -- March Madness.

"There's usually seven or eight of us who come out here each year," Kirchhoefer said with his eyes glued to the banks of big-screen TV's showing Sunday afternoon's NCAA Tournament games. "We come out here to bet on basketball and play a little blackjack. We plan it every year for this weekend."

So do Abron and several of his friends.

"We usually come in on Wednesday and stay until Saturday or Sunday," Abron said. "There's about four of us who come here every year. We've been doing it for seven or eight years."

But if the NCAA and John McCain-backed Amatuer Sports Integrity Act to outlaw college sports betting in Nevada should get passed this year, Abron, Kirchhoefer and their friends won't get another chance to legally bet on college basketball when the NCAA Tournament rolls around next year.

That wouldn't only hurt sports books such as the popular one at the Stardust, but also would trickle down and affect the entire economy in Las Vegas.

"It's much more than what the revenue is from the sports book standpoint," said Joe Lupo, race and sports book director at the Stardust, during a brief break in Sunday's action. "Right now this weekend our sports book is packed. But I think if you go into any casino in town after the games are over, the pit is packed and the slots are packed, too. Obviously the games don't go on all day, so (the bettors) go somewhere at night ... the restaurants, the bars."

Make no mistake, though, that if college sports betting does get outlawed, it would have a big impact on sports book action during March.

"For a four-day span, it's one of the biggest we have," Lupo said. "You compare it with New Year's and how that would fall. The Super Bowl (has) two of the busiest days on Saturday and Sunday. But March Madness, when you combine the Thursday and Friday games, I don't know of any four busier days than we have in the year."

Kirchhoefer was asked if he would be back next March if he couldn't bet on the NCAA Tourney games.

"Probably not," he said. "I'd probably use the Internet or some other route."

"I don't think you'd see as many people out here if they did (outlaw college betting)," Abron said. "I like the atmosphere here and it's fun to come here and watch all the games. And you would still be able to bet on the Internet. But I don't think as many people would come here as they do now."

Meanwhile, the gambling industry and Nevada politicians are advocating an alternative bill introduced in the House and Senate by Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R.-Nev., that requires the U.S. attorney general to create a task force to enforce gambling laws, increases penalties for illegal gambling, launches a study of gambling by college students, and requires colleges and universities to crack down on campus betting.

"More people are starting to realize that the real issue isn't what's going on in Nevada, but obviously the illegal aspect that's been going on," Lupo said. "It was the NCAA themselves that said there's a bookie on almost every campus. I think more of the influential politicians are realizing that banning betting in Nevada won't have any effect on the issue of betting on college campuses or illegal betting."

Lupo was asked what he thought the odds were that there would be betting on March Madness again next year at the Stardust.

"I don't know what those odds are right now," Lupo said. "But I sure hope we have it again next year."

Judging by Sunday's turnout, he's not alone.