Las Vegas Sportsbook Question

[Daniel Durant]

I was in Vegas recently with my wife and we were wondering why is it illegal to use a cellphone, pager, etc. in the sportsbooks? Does anyone know why they would ban them? Thanks.

[Terry]

It's federal law -- Wire Act, I believe it's called. Notice that there aren't any payphones within site of the sports book either.

[Daniel Durant]

Thanks for your reply. I know it is federal law, but do you know why it is federal law? I just don't understand why you can't use a cell phone in a sportsbook but can walk 15 feet to the bar and call whoever. Not that it's a big deal, it's just that my wife and I are curious.

[Wake up CALL]

[ QUOTE ]
It's federal law -- Wire Act, I believe it's called. Notice that there aren't any payphones within site of the sports book either.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Wire Act only prohibits sports betting via a communication device, not talking to your wife or girlfriend. It is simply a casino policy.

-----Edited Below-----

I figured I should elaborate. It prevents beards from shopping point lines too easily between casinos.

[Wildbill]

Its a Nevada Gaming regulation, they did it because back when books actually got the big action of the smartest bettors they wanted to keep out "beards", who are people that just bet games for a single handicapping group or at times for a couple of different bettors. Back in the days before internet betting and before phone betting was offered at more than a couple of places in town you had to use beards for two reasons. One was to disguise who was behind the money, part of the reason why beards would gladly service a handful of people at a time. Certain bettors would put in a wager of any amount and the books would move the number so a beard could give you a shot at getting a couple bets in at the same line. Second was that you couldn't be everywhere at once, the best bettors shop more than you can imagine to get the best line. When phone accounts and offshore internet betting wasn't around you couldn't possibly know the up to the minute line everywhere so you would get the beard to put in a bet at the best number and the fee you paid him was well worth it. This is really an old relic of a system because back then pagers were the big thing, people would bet off a pager and then these guys were the first users of cell phones. The books didn't want these guys around if they could help it, but like you say you can just go around the corner and make the call. If you go to the Stardust you will see the bank of pay phones outside the door to the book, those used to generate orders for hundreds of thousands of dollars of bets and were the source for transmitting the Las Vegas line to the world. Now its rare to even see them used.