Cantor Gaming using March Madness betting frenzy to debut new features

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 | 2 a.m.

Fantasy sports are about to meet legal sports betting in Las Vegas casinos.

Next Monday, Cantor Gaming will unveil a new betting option called “the Cantor Five” at its empire of local sports books. Cantor will choose a team of five NBA players every day and allow bettors to do the same.

Based on a scoring system similar to fantasy basketball, Cantor’s computer will then formulate a line on the matchup. Bettors can wager on either Cantor’s team or their own against the spread.

“I think it’s a revolutionary product that’s going to blow people away,” Cantor Race and Sports Book Director Mike Colbert said. “It’s fantasy with real money.”

The release date is no coincidence. This weekend, the opening salvo of the NCAA Tournament will mark the busiest time of Cantor’s three years in Las Vegas.

“The Cantor Five” is the final touch in a series of new or improved wagering alternatives the sports book operator will offer this week.

“We shot for March Madness because we knew that’s when everybody was going to be in town,” Colbert said. “There’s no better time to debut this stuff than right now.”

The company now controls sports books at seven properties. Cantor — which has run books at the M Resort, Hard Rock Hotel, Tropicana and Cosmopolitan for more than a year — didn’t have control of the Palms, Venetian or Lagasse’s Stadium during last year’s tournament.

When the Nevada Gaming Commission officially approved Cantor Gaming’s request to take over the race and sports book at the Palms last month, Cantor President and CEO Lou Amaitis was elated for one primary reason.

The timing couldn’t have been better, Amaitis said.

“We are delighted to have received regulatory approval quickly,” he stated at the time, “enabling us to operate at Palms in time for March Madness.”

Colbert expects the new properties to give the company a boost in action during the tournament.

“It’s such a huge advantage for us on a week like this,” Colbert said. “The M is going to be busy, but we’ve been there for three years and it’s a local crowd. To add these properties on the Strip, you really see the benefit on a week like this. They’re going to have wall-to-wall people for four days.”

Cantor is planning accordingly. Colbert said he realized the normal sports book space wasn’t enough to supply the demand during the NCAA Tournament in previous years.

Cantor will hold viewing parties in ballrooms at most of its properties this weekend. At the Hard Rock, March Madness betting will take over the Joint concert venue.

More importantly to gamblers, Cantor is posting a larger betting menu. Instead of offering in-running wagering on a few contests per day, Cantor will make the popular feature available for every game.

“I think there’s a demand for it, to be honest,” Colbert said. “Our customers are constantly asking for it more. On an everyday basis, there are some games that aren’t that interesting and won’t do much live action. But in a tournament like this, there’s not a game on that board that people aren’t interested in.”

Cantor was the first operator to constantly push in-game betting — where patrons can wager on a side, total or even which team will win on the money line during play — three years ago through its account wagering system.

Now, it’s impossible to loiter in almost any sports book without hearing announcements or seeing the betting board light up with in-running lines.

“We really pride ourselves on being industry leaders and doing new things,” Colbert said. “If people want to follow, more power to them. I know there were a lot of naysayers a couple of years ago, and now those are some of the same people who are doing it.”

Cantor will also release parlays with better odds for its account bettors before the tournament.

Amaitis once said Cantor’s approach proves that “the opportunity to make money on sports is real.” That’s the attitude that has attracted casino executives to Cantor.

At a property like the Palms, Cantor pays rent and provides a staff to run the sports book. A willingness to take higher-limit bets attracts the kind of clientele casinos want to come through their doors.

“By partnering with Cantor Gaming, a book operator known for its creative and innovative approach to sports wagering and its spectacular sports book environments, we are confident that our guests will enjoy the same high standards and superb experience in our race and sports book as they have come to expect across our resort,” Joseph A. Magliarditi, president of the Palms, said in a statement when his property reached an agreement with Cantor.

The pressure is on to have a successful NCAA Tournament, Colbert said. Cantor is pulling out all the stops to make sure it happens.

“It’s very important,” Colbert said. “These four days are even more busy than the Super Bowl, to be frank. More games, more action, and we’ll do more business.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.