Friday, March 29, 2002 | 11:21 a.m.
Sports fans call the NCAA men's basketball tournament March Madness. Las Vegas casinos just call it profitable.
Sports books are in the middle of what's arguably their biggest betting season as the single-elimination tournament prepares for this weekend's Final Four.
Fans make their way to Las Vegas throughout March, crowding sports books and hotel rooms and filling trash cans with losing betting slips.
Chris Johnson of Lincoln City, Ore., said he and his college buddies make meeting on the Strip for the NCAA tournament an annual event.
Gripping betting slips in one hand and a complimentary beer in the other, the 28-year-old insurance salesman and Duke University fan watched Indiana beat his Blue Devils on the bank of big screens overhead as he lounged in the Stardust hotel-casino's sports book.
He lost his $20 parlay bet on Duke when the Hoosiers upset the favorite 74-73, but Johnson didn't care.
"I've got action all weekend," he said. "That's why I like to come here to watch the games. Even if you don't care about the teams that are playing, having a bet on them makes it interesting. You can't do this anywhere else."
Unlike the biggest sports betting event of the year -- the Super Bowl -- the NCAA tournament is spread over three weekends, meaning more hotel rooms, meals and drinks, oddsmakers and hotel-casino operators said.
"Overall, it's not bigger as far as the handle as the Super Bowl, but it's bigger as far as the volume of people and days and excitement," said John Avello, race and sports book director for Bally's and Paris Las Vegas hotel-casinos. Handle is the total amount bet.
Avello said that betting interest seems to grow every year.
"We probably had the biggest crowd I've ever seen for those four days," he said, referring to the tournament's first weekend. "From Thursday morning to Sunday until about 4 p.m., it was just mayhem."
Neither state gambling regulators nor Las Vegas tourism officials calculate how much is bet on the games or the tournament's nongambling economic benefit for the city. By comparison, Nevada sports books saw more than $71 million in betting action on the Super Bowl.
"March is certainly one of the city's strongest months for a combination of reasons," said Kevin Bagger, a senior researcher for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "The weather is outstanding, there's the Winston Cup NASCAR event and March Madness."
Casino sports books use beer specials and a variety of proposition bets as well as special parties to lure bettors. Avello said collegiate basketball fans filled the 1,100-seat Paris showroom to catch the 65-team tournament opener. "It was just spectacular," he said.
One Las Vegas neighborhood casino sports book ran a free contest for anyone guessing all the teams to make the "Sweet 16." No one won the $5,000 prize, but four of the 1,768 participants picked 15 of 16 to win $1,000 each.
The NCAA tournament continues to be a great event for Las Vegas, Avello said.
"If you can't make it to the games themselves, this is the place you should be."
A college betting ban proposal backed by the NCAA pending in Congress could change all that.
"It would probably make people bet more on pro sports, because they're not going to stop betting," said Andy DeLuca, sports book manager for the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. "But it would definitely hurt the bottom line."
The NCAA and other advocates say a betting ban would help preserve the integrity of college sports and discourage athletes from point shaving. Critics counter that the ban would drive all college sports wagering to illegal bookies and make it harder to detect fixed games.
Nevada sports books take in about $2 billion annually, and college games account for about a third of the wagers, compared with $380 billion in illegal sport betting, according to state Gaming Control Board figures.
The college athletic betting ban was first introduced two years ago, but has yet to reach the House or Senate floor.
A spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the leading proponent of the betting ban, said McCain is waiting for the opportunity to attach the proposal to another bill.
"He still feels very strongly about this issue," said Pia Pialorsi, McCain's spokeswoman. "He will bring it up when it's right."
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who is pushing legislation that would crack down on illegal betting in other states by studying illegal gambling by college students, said she was confident that if the betting ban came to a vote in the House this year, it would be defeated.
The extended betting season the NCAA tournament offers can spell trouble for compulsive gamblers, including college students, said Arnie Wexler, a problem gambling expert.
"There is more money wagered on the Final Four games than on any other sporting event in America," said Wexler, a recovering compulsive gambler.
Wexler criticized the NCAA for spending money on pushing the college betting ban instead of educating students about compulsive gambling on college campuses, where he claims it's easier for a student to place a sports bet than it is to buy cigarettes or beer.
"They (NCAA officials) don't really care about gambling or compulsive gambling," he said. "They are pushing for the ban cause it looks good in the media. It's like putting a Band-Aid on cancer."
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