Nevada gaming regulators study changes to sports betting rules

The Nevada State Gaming Control Board is considering allowing punters outside the state to wager on sports at Nevada sportsbooks if permitted by federal and state governments.

As the competition in sports wagering goes from strength to strength with five states jumping in head first, the Nevada regulator has been initiating an effort to update Nevada’s sports wagering industry’s regulations.

Currently, six states have rolled in the legal sports betting regime with New Mexico being the newest state to join and offer betting at a tribal casino near Albuquerque. The remaining five are Nevada, New Jersey, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Delaware.

The gaming industry, which had 10 people representing them, gave testimonies on their proposed amendments to four of regulations. These include regulation 22, which guides the operation of race books and sports pools.

The proposed changes include:

• Changing the regulation that prohibits race and sportsbooks from taking wagers outside the state. If accepted and amended it would mean they would take bets as long as they “are legal in the jurisdiction from which they originate and federal law allows such wagers.”
• Expunging the regulation that demands punters registering for an interactive gaming account must provide a Social Security number. The proposed amendment would instead request players to provide just the last four digits of the number.
• They are also proposing that sportsbooks honour winning betting tickets for a year after the conclusion of an event instead of 30 days. Most of the sportsbooks have policies enabling payment beyond the 30-day minimum requirement.

Present at the meeting were representative from casino giants like MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts and Caesar Entertainment.

A key discussion point was the drafting of regulations that would allow punters to register for gaming accounts without necessarily being at the casino, which is already allowed for sports betting.

According to New Jersey industry leaders, revenue from remote betting last September was higher than that placed in casinos. The changes to allow players to open a remote online casino account will have to be ratified by the Nevada Control Board.

A representative from the Nevada Resort Association, Scott Nielson, urged the board to continue to innovate in the sports betting sector and follow the lead of other countries. This may include the outcome of entertainment awards shows, reality television and futures bets on sports events like the Most Valuale Player in the NBA.