Game cancellations leave Nevada sports books empty-handed

Lisa Snedeker

Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001 | 5:54 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - Cancellations of this weekend's NFL, college football and major league baseball games as well as postponed auto races and golf tournaments gave bettors few options Thursday and left Nevada sports books virtually empty-handed.

With only Canadian football and limited horse racing on which to place their wagers, bettors in sports books weren't riveted to the latest scores, but rather unfolding news developments from this week's terrorist attacks on the East Coast.

That means a huge dollar loss for Nevada sports books that were gearing up for another big weekend following the National Football League's season opener Sunday.

"But what's important needs to be kept in perspective," said Joe Lupo, race and sports book manager at the Stardust hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. "People are still congregating (in the sports book) to hear new news. It's the only real place in a casino for people to do that. I think they are finding comfort in talking to other people."

After the NFL announced that it would not be playing on Sunday and Monday, a flurry of cancellations and postponements quickly followed. Baseball postponed all games through Sunday.

As a result, for the first time in its 21-plus-year history, the sports book at the Imperial Palace hotel-casino closed at noon Thursday, said Tara Martinez, race book supervisor.

"It's never closed before," she said. "But there's nothing to bet on."

Instead the television screens flashed images from CNN and a local news station. The race book remained open, although horse races in New York and New Jersey were canceled until further notice, Martinez said.

Because this weekend's games were postponed rather than canceled, Martinez said any bets placed are still good.

"All tickets are still in action, but if the games are canceled, they can get a refund at the cashier cage," she said.

Industry experts said the economic impact could be staggering because millions of dollars are wagered on the Strip on football alone each week.

"We aren't guaranteed to make money every weekend, but most of the time we do," Lupo said. "A lot of people that come up for the weekend want to bet sports. Obviously, they're not going to come up this weekend. It's going to hit us hard especially when you compare it (earnings) to last September."

Last September, gamblers wagered nearly $174 million on football game, according to figures provided by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which regulates the industry. During the same time period, bettors bet nearly $54 million on baseball.

"It's not as much as football, but it's still going to have an impact because there are no games until Monday," said the control board's Frank Streshley.

Downtown Las Vegas sports books were nearly deserted Thursday afternoon. While a few people consulted their horse racing forms, all others were focused on the big screen televisions flashing images of the rescue efforts in New York and Washington, D.C.

Potential football and baseball bettors said they weren't disappointed they wouldn't see any action through the weekend.

"It's reasonable that they canceled the games," said Richard Molinari, who was watching the news reports in Binion's Horseshoe hotel-casino's sports book.

Sports books in northern Nevada aren't seeing much action either.

"Business is down because there's nothing to bet on," said Randy Raihall, a supervisor at John Ascuagas Race and Sports Book in Sparks.

And bettors' minds were elsewhere.

"A few people were bummed out about (not betting) but most of them are upset about what's going on in the world rather than what's going on in sports," said sports book supervisor Steve Gibbons at Harrahs Reno. "We haven't had many complaints."