Nevada officials cool to British gaming link

Wednesday, April 9, 2003 | 11:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A plan to allow Great Britain residents to bet on live Las Vegas casino games from their living rooms via satellite was outlined Wednesday.

Jeff Silver, a Las Vegas attorney representing Herbert Lindo and his Kenilworth Systems Corp., described the proposal as a "blockbuster" that could generate millions of tax dollars for Nevada while at the same time making huge profits for his client.

But Nevada gaming regulators were cool to the idea, saying they had no idea whether it was legal and would run afoul of the federal regulations that ban transmission of gambling outside a state.

As envisioned by Lindo, who says he came up with the idea of cashless wagering in 1985, cameras could be placed above roulette, baccarat and crap tables in a Nevada casino. The television signal would be encoded and sent to England, where it would be picked up by Sky Network, which serves 6.5 million homes in that country.

Customers would sign up and deposit cash with Sky Network or an affiliate. The players could then sit home and watch the Nevada games live and make wagers. If players lost all of their money, they would have to deposit more cash before they could bet again.

Lindo is so confident that this is workable he would be willing to pay $20 million for a two-year Nevada license as the franchise owner of the signal. And he would pay 6.25 percent on the money he earned from allowing Sky Network to use the signal.

But Dennis Neilander, chairman of the state Gaming Control Board, said he was concerned about a scandal on the other side of the simulcast, such as a patron not being paid.

Neilander suggested that might reflect discredit on Nevada's regulated system.

Neilander also said he was unsure whether this would violate federal law.

The proposal came in Senate Bill 431 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which did not take any action.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said she was "worried about giving our good name -- what if there is cheating on the other side? We would be tarnished." She questioned how Nevada could punish the company in England.

Silver said the bill would allow state gaming regulators to immediately pull the plug on the system if any scandal were involved.

Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, expressed concern about minors being allowed to access the games.

Neilander said his agency struggled with the issue of underage gambling when it was considering regulations to allow Internet gambling. The U.S. Justice Department informed Nevada regulators that Internet gambling would be illegal under the federal Wire Act, which prohibits wire transmission of gaming information or bets.

Silver argued there is a decision in a federal appeals court in New York that would permit Kenilworth to transmit the signal without violating the federal law. But he added, "Gaming is viewed as a piranha in this (the Bush) administration."

Silver said Sky Network has 6.5 million television customers in Great Britain and he estimated that 10 percent might sign up to receive the service. He said based on the "gambling appetite" of the English, a person might wager $3,000 per year.

Lindo said the favorite game in Europe is roulette. He said 20 percent of the Sky Network customers are now signed up for make-believe or "cartoon" gambling games. He said royalties for his firm could be $1.2 billion.

"The numbers are staggering," said Lindo, whose company is based in Mineola, N.Y.

Lindo would sign a contract with a Las Vegas casino to televise the games for a flat fee. There are three other, smaller satellite broadcasters in Britain which, together, have 5.5 million customers, he said. His agreement with Sky Network would give it the exclusive right to televise the games live.

Silver argued this would be the same as the present system that allows horse racing in other states to be simulcast to Nevada for betting purposes.