BLESS MY MOMMY, MY DADDY AND MOST OF ALL, BLESS MY BOOKIE

It's 3:55 a.m.in Las Vegas and I got five grand and a hot tip on tonights NBA game.Things are going good and they look like a good bet.The windows open at 4AM here, I just gotta call my man in five minutes when he opens and make my bet. But if I win, how am I gonna collect?

What am I doing up at 4AM to make a bet? The boys are just getting to work at their computer terminals. Their first job is to greet the Bahamian morning with a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, then send up the days college and pro sports lines to the millions of bettors waiting with U.S. tax-free dollars to make their days sports bets over the internet to the off-shore internet sportsbooks, the only legal way that will soon be left to bet college and pro sports.

Lenny Del Genio, the highly respected veteran oddsmaker and former sportsbook director at Bally's is a big supporter of an NCAA and PRO sports betting bans, no, not because he's some moral majority fanatic, but because he's recently bought into an off-shore Bahamian on-line betting book, but like nearly every sports book operator outside the U.S., not to mention plenty of underground bookies in this country; Del Genio sees the NCAA and NBA and NFL efforts to end legal sports betting in Nevada with a mixture of bemusement and elation. "From a personal perspective, I think it's crazy." Del Genio said. "But from a business perspective, I think it's wonderful. It would give the offshore books a virtual monopoly on college and pro sports betting throughout the United States. At least the legal betting. But the bookies are licking their chops to get back into business."

And it would be a lucrative monopoly. Las Vegas Sports Consultants estimates that Las Vegas sports books take in $2.3 billion dollars annually, 30%-40% on college sports alone. And where would this money go?

"It would make for a very favorable situation for sports books throughout the world, from Mexico and the Caribbean to England and Australia." said Del Genio. First it was just the NCAA and Sen. John McCain and his "Student Athlete Protection Act" then Sen. Sam Brownback, R. Kan. and Sen. Pat Leahy, D. Vt. it's primary backers.

But now the NFL and NBA have expressed interest in the betting ban. "We write to urge in the strongest possible terms that the bill be expanded to prohibit gambling not only on amateur sports, but on professional sports as well." said the NFL's letter from Executive Vice President Jeffery Pash (I hate the name Jeffery, sounds like some kid I used to beat up in 6th grade.) "If anything, the harms inflicted on professional sports by gambling may be even greater than the harms inflicted on amateur sports because gambling on our games is more widespread." JEFFERY wrote. Than Brian McIntyre, Senior VP for sports communication for the NBA said "we fought gambling on our games in 1992 and our position is the same". So I'm sure the NBA will jump on the bandwagon. The reasoning is that this will stop student betting and the temptation for student athletes to fix games. This of course is preposterous. This is exactly what the bookies have been waiting for. This will drive age old sports wagering, that until the State of Nevada legalized it, was limited to the low-life mob owned bookies who would constantly take bets from kids and have numerous connections to fixing collegiate and pro sporting events with no way to collect from these guys when you win and God help you if you loose and can't pay up or even cover the vig. Instead of keeping it legal and above board and in front of cameras and done through cashiers and tight security on under-age betting as well as keeping and eye out for money laundering and policing for the IRS due to the 6-A laws requiring casinos to report any wins or bets over $10,000. The taxes alone gathered by the government from the Nevada and New Jersey sportsbooks is over $100 million a year. This money and underage sports betting would all go to the bookies and the mob and the on-line legal off-shore sportsbooks and good luck collecting from an unknown offshore sports book in Australia or England that's no more than a computer terminal that just took your Visa number and someone's wife is having a ball with your supposed winnings somewhere in the Virgin Islands.

But here it is, Black Thursday. A Senate committee voted Thursday to ban betting on college sports. But they declined a challenge by Nev. Sen. Richard Bryan to set a nationwide minimum gambling age of 21. Senator Bryan accused his colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee of hypocrisy on the issue of gambling by young people by banning betting to prevent teen gambling on sports, yet in many states it's legal to play casino games and lottery and horse betting at AGE18!!!. This bill is strictly meant to give Nevada the shaft. This will have no impact at all on college betting by students, because 99% of gambling on college sports occurs illegally on college campuses, not in Nevada casinos. And most pro sports betting as well occurs mostly outside Nevada since they can't get to a legal sportsbook here every day they want to bet a game. So they'll just forgo the $100 million a year in tax revenue, people in every aspect of the sports betting industry will lose their jobs, and although Sen.John McCain will loose some votes if he ever runs for President by the Nevada voters, the millions of "moral majority" votes will be worth the millions of dollars and jobs lost from our pockets.

Then when the Superbowl and the Final Four are played, only the fans from that town will cheer, Tony the bookie will clean up whatever hasn't been sent to a bank in Sydney, although he may have to break a few legs to get his money, he'll get it all the same OR ELSE!. Then he'll go to the nearby college dorm and collect on those bets too, after all, money is money, and knees are knees, whether they're an old guy's or some college freshman who's dad won't cover his bets, or the college basketball forward who will swear he'll blow his freethrow shots if Tony will square his debt with the boys. How else can he come up with that kind of money? (how do you think they get into that spot in the first place? First, they place a little bet, when they loose the bookie tells them to forget it. The next bet the bookie says he'll advance him more money if he wants a bigger bet. Then he loses and can't pay up and when he runs out of ways to pay, the boys will have plenty of suggestions.

So although I haven't been in touch with my bookie since I arrived in Las Vegas in 1980, I know he's still around and waiting for my call. It's 4AM, 7AM in New York City, I hope he'll have me back. I'll have to start sending him flowers and when I say my prayers at night I'll be sure to include him. BLESS MY MOMMY AND DADDY, AND MOST OF ALL, GOD BLESS MY BOOKIE.

--- Ken Pearlman