In a move designed to provide Nevada race books and sports pools
with a greater variety of offerings, the Nevada Gaming Commission,
on February 26, 2015, adopted amendments to its regulations to
allow wagering on Olympic events as well as "virtual"
events.
Wagering on Olympic events previously had been legal in Nevada but
was outlawed in 2001 in response to a campaign by U.S. Senator John
McCain to ban betting on all amateur sports. Since 2001, Nevada
Gaming Commission Regulation 22 (Race Books and Sports Pools) has
prohibited wagers on "any amateur non collegiate sport or
athletic event." The February 26 amendment revises the
regulation to specifically exclude from the list of prohibited
wagers bets on "Olympic sporting or athletic events sanctioned
by the International Olympic Committee, subject to limitation by
the chairman or the chairman's designee in his sole and
absolute discretion." This allows broad betting on Olympic
events but provides Nevada's regulators the discretion to
remove a certain contest or event from betting activity.
This is a real win for Nevada's sports pools, for which the
summer is traditionally a slow sports betting period, because
baseball is the only major sport in the United States during that
time. This puts Nevada's sports pools on par with those in
other international jurisdictions, such as the U.K., which already
allow wagers on Olympic events.
Quickly following the decision on February 26, Nevada sports books
raced to begin offering betting lines on the 2016 Summer Olympic
Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The Nevada Gaming Commission further amended NGC Regulation 22 on
February 26 to allow wagering on "virtual" events at
Nevada sports pools.
For wagers on a virtual event to be permissible, the conditions
include that an approved gaming device be used to determine the
outcome(s) and display an accurate representation of the outcome(s)
of the virtual event, that a live display of the virtual event is
offered to all approved sports pools, and that the virtual event is
pre-approved by Nevada's gaming regulators. The technology
involved in offering virtual events will be subjected to testing
and approval by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Virtual wagering is widespread and successful in the United Kingdom
and in other countries. Initial offerings are likely to include
mainly virtual racing and sporting events but could expand to a
potentially unlimited number of virtual events.
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