Once again wagering factions in Nevada are attempting to get a bill through the legislature that will allow Nevada Casinos to post odds and take wagers on governmental elections in the USA.
Representatives from the lawmakers are scheduled to be meeting with Nevada gaming officials to discuss the feasibility of passing such a motion in the Nevada legislature. At present no wagering on elections in allowed in the state of Nevada.
The same move was tried by the same folks just last year when the bill somehow failed to make it out of the committee stage of the process. This year the proponents hope to be making a more persuasive argument to the committee.
Central to the issue is the revenue being lost by the state because of this out of date statute. The total annual handle from wagering on elections, just in Nevada, could exceed $50,000,000 which would in turn boast the state’s coffers by a cool $2,000,000 in tax revenue.
Obviously the big sports books and casinos are all for the bills passing. Jimmy Vaccaro of the South Point sports book said in a recent interview that his book would be shoulder-to-shoulder on election night if betting on the event were legal.
Wagering on US elections is grand sport over in the United Kingdom where Graham Sharpe of William Hill estimated that over $16 million, in US dollars, was wagered with them on the 2012 presidential election.
Of course your local bookie will still be taking bets on the elections. Wagering on elections has been popular in the USA for decades… even though it’s supposed to be illegal. New York City has always been a particular hotbed of wagering action anytime a major election rolls around. As far back as 1916 they say that over $160,000,000 was wagered on the election won by Woodrow Wilson.
Senator ‘Tick’ Segerblom from Nevada is spearheading the fight to have the archaic law changed calling the situation ‘crazy and stupid’. He told reporters, “Its tax money that we should keep here as opposed to sending it overseas”.
One of the principal arguments against legalizing wagering on elections in Nevada claims that the move would then dissuade people from voting. However, Jimmy Vaccaro is quite sure that it would have just the opposite effect. He said, “Let me tell you something, if you could bet on the election, you’re gonna vote. It’s a big-time parlay”.
