Nevada Appears Ready to Offer Olympic Beting

Well, the participating athletes get paid, so why not bet on the events as well?

Nevada Gaming Board Oks Olympic Bets

That is the new approach of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, apparently, as they have signed off on Nevada sports books taking action on the Olympics. Once the state Gaming Commission issues its expected approval February 26th, the transition will be complete.

Nevada allows betting, but regulation still controls where wages can be placed. Nevada regulators have traditionally prohibited betting on events scored by judges; this new indication of willingness to allow betting on certain judged events seems destined to be dictated by the Olympic events where the most betting will take place, ostensibly on high profile events such as gymnastics and diving.

This also implies increased scrutiny on judges and the judging process, a necessary measure in a time in which gambling is so popular.

Big Business Getting Bigger

In fact, in 2014 alone, $3.9 billion in wages were placed on sporting events, which the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports represented an increase of 7.7% from the previous year 2013. While every wager has winners and losers, the consistent winner from this activity remains the sports books themselves, who raked in $227 million on those 2014 wagers.

One helpful boost for Nevada sports books is the ability to provide mobile sports betting via smartphones and tables unencumbered, because wagering is not classified as a form of online gambling at all.

This means that the new measures will allow millions of people to bet on Olympic events, including some judged contests, from the convenience of their mobile devices for Brazil 2016.

Competitive Move as Well

Obviously, there are some business interests fueling this new re-regulation measure, likely related to the fact that gambling hub Las Vegas wants to maintain a competitive edge for one of the few states currently allowing gambling. Legalizing Olympic betting is an added feature that may help them proactively stay ahead of the curve with the movement to legalize sports betting nationwide gathering steam in the United States.

While the legalization movement is moving ahead slowly, apparently Nevada regulators would rather be safe than sorry.