All Bets Are Off for Nevada Home Team

As of late Wednesday afternoon on the Las Vegas strip, you could get 4-1 odds on the New York Mets to win the World Series, 9-2 on Greg Norman to the win the Masters and 1,000-1 on the Clippers to win the NBA championship.

You could not get action on Nevada-Las Vegas in the Final Four. You never can. This is one of the House Rules.

Because of a Nevada Gaming Commission statute adopted in September, 1985, sports books in the state are not allowed to take bets on games involving state colleges, regardless of where the game is played. Nevada professional franchises are also included, but the state has only a minor-league baseball team.

Thus, on enormous electronic boards in various casinos around the city are posted the following odds for Saturday’s National Collegiate Athletic Assn. semifinals: Arkansas-Duke: Even. UNLV-Georgia Tech: No wagering allowed. If UNLV wins--and reaches the NCAA championship game for the first time--there will be no wagering on that game.

“If the Rebels win Saturday and get into the title game,” said Art Manteris, director of the race and sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton, “it would be unprecedented--that wagering would not be allowed in Nevada casinos on an event of that scope.”

According to directors at several sports books in Las Vegas, the Final Four ranks behind only the Super Bowl in wagering volume, generating $15 million to $20 million statewide (the Super Bowl handle is more than $40 million, by far the largest for a one-day event). Monday’s NCAA title game is worth more than $10 million “unless the Rebels are in it,” said Lou D’Amico, director of the Caesars Palace book. “Then there will be no handle at all.”

Overall, the handle will be reduced by at least 20% and by as much as 75% on weekend’s action because of UNLV’s presence, a drop of $3 million to $15 million.

Since the state mandate was implemented, no casino has challenged it, in part because putting UNLV on the board would create an unreliable proposition for bookmakers, who ideally seek equal action on both sides of the point spread.

“This is a Rebel town,” said Jimmy Vaccaro, director of the sports book at the Mirage Hotel. “You’d have everybody betting on the Rebels, and the way their program is, they’d usually cover and the book would get crucified.”