California congressman tours sports book

LAS VEGAS - Congressman Robert Matsui looked up Saturday at the sea of red, green and orange lights and spotted the odds on Tiger Woods winning the British Open.

Matsui, D-Calif., may not know a lot about sports betting, but he knew a sure thing when he saw it.

''Maybe I'll bet my house on it,'' he said while touring the sports book operation at The Mirage hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

As the debate over whether college sports betting should be banned heats up in Congress, Matsui, in town for a private gathering, wanted to see for himself how sports books operate.

Matsui, who had never seen a sports book before, got a crash course in how bets are taken in and paid, how odds are set and how regulated the betting is.

Yolanda Acuna, assistant race and sports book director at The Mirage, showed Matsui how a gambler's driver's license is scanned into a computer if a bet of more than $10,000 is made. That high of a bet has to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service.

''Everything here is so well controlled by our state,'' Acuna said, giving Matsui a tour.

Matsui said he was impressed with the sports book operation.

''This is something that should remain,'' he said, looking up at the huge televisions showing various sports. ''We shouldn't tamper with this. This has probably the greatest enforcement and control than anything else.''

A Senate committee voted in April to ban betting on college sports - a practice legal only in Nevada.

The legislation would outlaw betting on Olympic, college or high school athletic events. Though there is little legal betting on the Olympics and none on high school sports, Nevada's gambling industry accepts bets on college sporting events that do not involve a school in the state.

The Nevada gambling industry took in $2.3 billion in sports wagers in fiscal 1999, with 30 percent to 40 percent bet on college sports.

Supporters of the amateur sports betting ban have said it would help in the broader fight against illegal gambling on college campuses. Those opposed to the bill say it will just spread illegal gambling because legal gambling would be taken away.

The House has not yet held hearings on a similar bill.

''This is a form of entertainment,'' Matsui said. ''It's totally regulated and should be able to continue on.''

Matsui is a co-sponsor of a bill proposed by Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., that calls for a study of illegal gambling. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., sponsored a similar bill in the Senate.

Berkley said she invited Matsui to the sports book because she wanted him to see how regulated gambling is in Nevada.

''I think this was very successful,'' she said after the tour. ''He will be a strong advocate for Nevada's position.''

Alan Feldman, spokesman for Mirage-owner MGM Grand, said showing members of Congress Nevada's sports books is the only way they can understand the issue.

Jay Jacobsen of San Diego was monitoring the horse race he bet on Saturday as Matsui and Berkley made their way through the sports book.

''I love this town,'' he said, listing his winnings for the day.

As for banning one of his hobbies, Jacobsen said it wouldn't solve anything.

''People are going to go back to bookies.''