At IRS seminar, exploring the debate on the expansion of sports betting

A story in Philadelphia magazine a few years ago detailed the travails of federal law enforcement as it built cases against the local branch of La Cosa Nostra.

At one point, the article’s author speculated that perhaps the government was overly obsessed with the mob — “or what’s left of it” — and asked, “Why not legalize gambling and let the IRS extort the bookies?”

Refusal to honor an expired betting ticket gives sports book a black eye

Perhaps more so than in any other business, customer service is of paramount importance in Las Vegas sports betting. Here's a sad example of when a casino took the opposite tack. One week after this column appeared, the Sun ran this brief follow-up item: "The Stratosphere has paid Michael Shackleford of Las Vegas on a disputed sports betting ticket worth $2,900, one week after a Las Vegas Sun story detailed Shackleford's case with the state Gaming Control Board regarding the ticket. Officials with the Stratosphere originally declined to cash the ticket when Shackleford tried to redeem it Jan. 26 because it was six days past its expiration date. Shackleford had bet $1,000 on a Sept. 22 college football game, netting $1,900 when Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech as a plus 190 underdog. Shackleford filed a dispute with the Gaming Control Board claiming the casino should be held accountable for the wager."

It has been an unwritten rule in Nevada sports betting for decades: A sports book will virtually always cash a winning ticket even if the bettor redeems it after its expiration date.

One man's theory on the Las Vegas economy, then and now

News item: The Nevada casino industry reports a significant decline in gambling revenue for a third consecutive month, blaming weakness in the national economy. Gambling revenue on the Strip falls 4.8 percent in March, according to the latest figures from the state Gaming Control Board. This follows declines of 3.1 percent in February and 1.3 percent in January. The decline in gambling revenue in March amounts to 1.5 percent statewide and 2 percent in Clark County.

Short version: Las Vegas is no longer recession-proof.

It wasn’t always that way, as legendary former Las Vegas bookmaker Scott Schettler remembers it.

During his career in the Nevada gaming industry, recessions came and went, but there was one constant: People always had money to bring to Las Vegas and gamble.

Much respect to De La Hoya for speaking his mind, but this time he's wrong

Dear Oscar De La Hoya,

You recently suggested that Las Vegas boxing judges are in a conspiracy against fighters with your company, Golden Boy Promotions.

According to a column in a Southern California newspaper forwarded to me by a respected boxing publicist (undoubtedly to elicit just this sort of reaction), you believe judges here are biased against you and other Golden Boy boxers, and that their bias is reflected on their scorecards.

As the publicist put it, “What a load of manure.”