Governor of Nevada Approves New Betting Measure
Scott Morris | June 2, 2017
Nevada now has a new law that allows pari-mutuel wagering for esports competitions, the World Series of Poker and other sports events considered “nontraditional.”
On Saturday, bill SB 240 became law with the signature of Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval after it was approved unanimously by Nevada’s Assembly and Senate. The law goes into effect on July 1.
With its addition of “other events” in the legislation events such as the World Series of Poker and esports are able to be included said Senator Becky Harris who sponsored the measure.
Harris added that the legislation allows for operators in Nevada to use a system of pari-mutuel for wagering and allows operators to offer wagers they may not otherwise make.
This new legislation was proposed in order to amend the Nevada Statues’ 464th chapter that included pari-mutuel wagering. Before being approved, traditional betting that was sportsbook style was allowed for other events.
The new legislation now opens new lines for other types of competitions that are not classified under the traditional sports events and dog racing legislation in Nevada.
The big difference among the two types of betting is gamblers are able to bet against each other in pari-mutuel betting, instead of against an odds maker, therefore taking out tax and the house juice.
The matchmaker in the pari-mutuel receives a percentage and the rest is divided amongst the bettors who win.
This news comes following successful betting that is sportsbooks style in many other types of events. In 2011, betting first opened in sportsbooks for the last hand of the World Series of Poker.
In 2016 sportsbook betting was approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board for esports events Intel Extreme Master Oakland as well as in 2017 for DreamHack Masters.
The popularity of esports has grown tremendously the past 12 months and its handle for certain events, continues to increase making it competition for traditional sports events.
