Nevada Looking To Allow Political Election Betting
Nevada sports books offer betting odds on nearly every event that draws interest in the public. The largest of public events in the US, however, the presidential election, has no odds in Vegas thanks to current laws.
State Senator Tick Segerblom wants to change all of that. The senator has proposed legislation in Nevada that would allow sports books to offer federal election odds. If approved, Sin City would become the first place in the US where such proposition betting on elections would be legal.
They bet on our elections in England,” said Segerblom, to FOX5 Vegas. “They spend millions of dollars on the presidential elections, and it occurred to me, why don’t we have that here?”
Nevada is facing a strong push from the Northeast that threatens the state’s monopoly on the sports betting industry in the US. New Jersey, Nevada’s oldest gaming rival, has passed laws allowing Atlantic City casinos to operate sports books. New Jersey, along with Delaware, has also added online gambling regulations over the past six months.
“We;’re in a competitive environment,” said Segerblom, when speaking about the state of the global gaming industry. “We’re basically competing against the world, and I think we need to start looking beyond what we’ve done.”
In the last presidential election, odds makers overseas offered odds on whether President Obama or challenger Mitt Romney would win. With the results no foregone conclusion, millions of dollars was wagered on the election.
That is money that Nevada is intent on keeping in their state, rather than funds being shipped to overseas bookmakers.
Over the past year, Nevada has begun to revamp their gaming industry, adding online casinos to the mix. State regulators have started the licensing process for online casinos, and hope to have the casinos up and running by the end of the summer. Nevada is in a race with New Jersey and Delaware to open the first Internet casino.
