LAS VEGAS SUN - Up for rethinking: Ban on cell phones in sports books

[clevfan]

Up for rethinking: Ban on cell phones in sports books

Law from bygone era is meant to fight illegal betting

By Liz Benston
LAS VEGAS SUN
Mon, Feb 18, 2008


If you ever watch the end of a basketball game in a casino sports book and want to call your buddy with the result, don’t.

At least not yet. State law has for a decade prohibited the use of cell phone and other electronic devices inside sports books. The purpose is to prevent transmission of betting information across state lines.

But Nevada regulators are now taking another look at the law because critics see it as outdated in a technological age when unlimited betting information and gambling opportunities are available 24 hours a day on the Internet.

For many gamblers, the cell phone ban is a quaint nod to a bygone era when people called corner bookies to place bets via a Las Vegas messenger. Internet gambling and handicapping sites have put many illegal bookies out of business — though they still exist. And casino sports books limit huge bets, wary of illegal betting through messengers wanting to balance their action.

Though many customers think the cell phone ban is an annoyance, some casinos entrusted with enforcing it see it as a bigger problem and are pressing for the change.

“During the course of a day, we must tell 75 to 100 guests that there’s no use of two-way communications devices in the sports book,” said a tired-sounding Johnny Avello, director of the race and sports book at Wynn Las Vegas. “A good portion of the guests are not relaying information. They might be talking to their wife and kids.”

Sports books post signs notifying customers about the ban. But many customers don’t understand, Avello said.

“We’ve received a lot of complaints from customers ... who were just making an innocent phone call,” said Las Vegas attorney Barry Lieberman, who represents South Point casino owner Michael Gaughan and opened talks with the Gaming Commission about changing the ban.

Lieberman said the rule might allow electronic communication but simply prohibit the transmission of betting information. How that would be policed is unclear, though Lieberman says most locals know the rules and don’t violate them. It’s the unsuspecting tourist who gets tapped on the shoulder, he said.

The Gaming Commission will hold workshops to gather comments about proposed revisions, but it hasn’t indicated it will go along with the idea. Nevada is the only state that allows betting on most sports and regulators are keen to maintain that status, which means not giving federal authorities a reason to object. The federal government has cracked down on offshore sports books in recent years.

Loosening the rule on electronic transmissions might invite abuse by messengers working for illegal bookies who want to use Nevada sports books to even out one-sided action in Internet casinos.

For now, people like horse race handicapper Vince Evans have to watch out. Evans handicaps using software on his laptop computer. He has been approached by security at several off-Strip casinos and ordered to power down his computer — even though the device isn’t connected to the Internet and is not transmitting information.

At one casino, “four security thugs arrived and watched while I powered down the computer and put it into my bag,” he said.

Barry Inciong, a Las Vegas visitor from Irvine, Calif., says the cell phone ban is annoying but he thinks it has merit.

“If I wanted to stake out the Hilton and just text bookies all over the country when a line moves in exchange for a cut, I could make a decent living,” Inciong said.

“Of course you could still have someone doing this by taking a few steps outside of the restricted area, but I think it would be far more prevalent if communication was allowed.”

[(sportman)]

They get mad for anyone who receives info and can have an advantage on their $100 max allowed plays..

LMAO

[wolfman]

“If I wanted to stake out the Hilton and just text bookies all over the country when a line moves in exchange for a cut, I could make a decent living,” Inciong said.

lv hilton, home of the steam

[Bobby C]

I haven't worked in a Las Vegas book since 2000. This law was a huge pain in the ass THEN, when about 5% of the population carried a cell phone.

I shudder to think what it must be like now.

[Dell Dude]

I remember having my calculator confiscated and examined when I was playing blackjack at the Hilton. They thought I was somehow using it to count cards I guess. Was just trying to keep track of how much I needed to win to get back to even after all my credit card cash advances at the cage. Eventually gave it back to me but told me to keep it in my pocket. Was just a fucking texas instrument calculator!

[(sportman)]

How come you are always behind?

[Dell Dude]

Originally Posted by (sportman)

How come you are always behind?

That's how I prefer it.

[(sportman)]

I hear you...

Seems like whenever I'm playing BJack I'm always down before the BIG MOVE.
Weird but true.

Only once that I can recall that I blitzed them hard and early ....
5 of us on a table (all friends-I reserved the game) and we hit like 8 good shoes right from the start and went home...erh

Well...strip joints

[Juice]

Will never pass. It fact this is pure stupidity to even bring it up.

[clevfan]

March 20, 2008


Cellular phone ban may be lifted

BY RAY HAGAR
Reno Gazette Journal

It's a daily nuisance for Terry Cox and most others who work at sports books in Nevada.

Cell phone usage in Nevada sports books has been outlawed for almost 10 years by the Gaming Control Board. So, every day, Cox and others are forced to confront dozens of unknowing people and tell them that they can't talk on a cell phone if they are in a Nevada sports book.

"I'd say we have to do it on a daily basis, maybe two to 20 times a day," said Cox, manager of the Peppermill Race & Sports Book in Reno.

"We do the best we can to enforce the policy," Cox said. "We tell them this is not a Peppermill policy. It is a state of Nevada gaming regulation."

It's not easy to do, Cox said. "They look at you like you are crazy," Cox said about a typical confrontation over a cell phone. "They'd say 'What do you mean I can't use my cell phone?'"

The cell phone ban, however, may soon be ended by the Gaming Control Board.

Gaming regulators plan to hold public workshops on the cell phone ban and other regulations within two months. After those workshops, the board could decide to end the ban, said Frank Streshley, senior research analyst for the board.

The regulation was enacted to thwart illegal betting by messengers or runners and to stop the transmission of betting information across state lines, book operators said.

Yet, it may be time to scrap it, they added.

"When that law was enacted, probably the only guys using cell phones were book makers and drug dealers," said Chris Andrews of Leroy's Race and Sport Book, the largest operator of sports books in Nevada. "Since then, even my 12-year-old has a cell phone. The whole landscape has changed dramatically."

Added Cox: "It's just catching up with the times. I don't think there is any real need for it and I think that is what the board sees, too. It's nice to know they are willing to look at these things and revise them according to common usage."

The law no longer applies since most sports book operators can spot messenger bettors with a keen eye, Cox said. Although Nevada books allow phone accounts where bettors can call in bets, messenger betting -- in which someone on the phone makes bets for the person on the other end of the call -- is illegal.

"So, what happens is that the people who are actually using cell phones out in the middle of the sports book are just the Joe Schmoes who don't know any different," Cox said. "And probably all he is doing is calling his wife to find out where they are going to meet for lunch.

"And that's the poor guy you have to go out and tell that he can't use his cell phones," Cox said. "That makes it hard."

Some sports book regulars, however, don't want to see the rules change.

"When I see people walking around with a cell phone when I am trying to concentrate, it absolutely bugs the hell out of me," said Richard Ozorio of Hong Kong, who was following horse racing at the Peppermill recently. "I would like to see them kept out of the sports books. They don't belong in here."

Books will continue to remain vigilant against messenger bets if the cell phone ban is lifted, Cox said.

"If there is a guy standing right in front of our counter with a cell phone, reading off the point spread to some guy in California, I'm going to say, 'Hey, you can't do that.'"

Some bettors, however, see an angle if the ban is lifted; they will call friends in other books to compare odds, some said.

"I would set up people at different places to see what the odds are," said Daryl Drew, 53, of Reno. "So, that would be an advantage to me if they did it (lift the ban)."