NV regulators end casino bets on Reno Aces

RENO (AP) " The bets are off at Nevada sports books when it comes to the Reno Aces.

Several northern Nevada casinos have been taking wagers on Reno's new Triple-A baseball team since the season opened. Not anymore.

"When that came to our attention, we immediately notified the sports books that the bets were not acceptable," state Gaming Control Board member Randall E. Sayre told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Sayre wrote a memo detailing the board's findings that a 1985 regulation, instituted at Major League Baseball's request, bans sports books from accepting bets on Nevada-based teams.

Nick Bogdanovich, race and sports director for the Club Cal Neva in downtown Reno, said wagering on the Aces was becoming popular with locals.

"People liked it," he told the newspaper. "There was a decent amount of wagering on it, and it would have been interesting to see where it went.

"We had a brand new product and people were taking to it. The Aces generated more business than I thought they would."

Now that the bets are off, Bogdanovich said he has mixed feelings.

While the wagers brought in business, he's also relieved he no longer has to set odds for the minor league games.

Setting the odds is difficult, he said, because players aren't as well known as those in the majors. Besides that, minor league teams have a different agenda " player development for their major league affiliate. So winning isn't always their first goal.

"I basically polished off darts and threw them," Bogdanovich said of setting odds for the Aces.