‘Nevada Numbers’ expanding

By Liz Benston (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

"Nevada Numbers" is not a lottery and never has been a lottery. In fact, Nevada has no state lottery.

But the mistaken belief that Nevada Numbers is a lottery apparently hasn't hurt business for the game's owner, Las Vegas Gaming Inc.

Nevada Numbers, in actuality a statewide casino keno game, is growing in popularity and Las Vegas Gaming is now preparing to offer a statewide bingo game. Like Nevada Numbers, the bingo game will offer a larger-than-normal jackpot.

Nevada's Gaming Control Board had cautioned Las Vegas Gaming about the keno game because it closely resembles statewide lotteries, which are illegal in Nevada.

The company said it has resolved the issue by placing the word "keno" on billboards advertising the game. The billboards show balls with numbers on them similar to many states' Powerball lotteries.

Other promotions had already noted that Nevada Numbers is in fact a keno game, Las Vegas Gaming Chief Executive Officer Russ Roth said.

"It was an oversight," Roth said of the original billboards, which lacked the keno disclaimer.

Gaming Control Board member Scott Scherer said regulators will continue to monitor the company.

"They're always going to have to be careful," Scherer said. "We want them to be successful and allow them as much flexibility as the law (will) allow. But we want to do our jobs in the end."

The company's "Nevada Bingo" game isn't likely to raise the same concerns because it would join similar games already on the market, Roth said.

"We're the second or third guy through this gate," he said. "In keno, we were the frontrunner."

The bingo game has not yet been approved by state regulators. The company expects to begin testing the game in casinos by November.

It must still undergo the same standard of quality control testing that is applied to other casino games, said Gregory Gale, chief of the Gaming Control Board's audit division. Yet it isn't likely going to be confused with a lottery because it involves many of the traditional aspects of bingo, such as using cards to line up winning numbers, he said.

"I can't speak for the (Nevada Gaming) Commission. But it looks less like a lottery than the other game," Gale said.

Similar to Nevada Numbers, Nevada Bingo would link dozens of casinos that sign up to offer it. Once a day, each casino would pick the same numbers, based on a random number drawing at a central location. Players would mark their numbers on cards made especially for the game.

Offering the same game at several locations makes a larger jackpot possible, Roth said.

"You have more people playing for bigger dollars."

Nevada Numbers offers a $5 million jackpot compared to the typical keno jackpot of $100,000 or more, Roth said.

The bingo game would offer a jackpot of $20,000 and smaller prizes of $1,199, compared to a more typical prize of $100 or less, he added.

Nevada Numbers, licensed by regulators in April 2001, hit $1 million in gross sales in June and is now offered at roughly 30 casinos in Nevada. Once a day, host casino Bally's Las Vegas draws five numbers from 80 and broadcasts the results to participating casinos statewide.

Las Vegas Gaming has higher hopes for the bingo game because bingo is generally more popular than keno, Roth said.

Regulators said they weren't aware of a large-scale statewide bingo game. Some casinos now offer bingo games that link only a few properties, often owned by the same company.

Planet Bingo, a company that operates linked bingo games at tribal casinos nationwide, also expects to roll out a statewide bingo game in Nevada this year.

The game would be offered at 10 or more bingo halls across the state, said John Sullivan, president of Little Bit Gaming in Las Vegas and the licensed operator of Planet Bingo in Nevada.

Each casino would offer its own drawing in which players draw color-coded numbers that line up on colored cards. The top jackpot would grow depending on how many players participate. The game, which has not yet received final regulatory approval, is being tested at the Gold Coast, Suncoast and Plaza casinos in Las Vegas.