Boston Celtics vs. LA Lakers … apparently people are pretty excited about this upcoming NBA finals. And while quite a few poker players have been known to place some sports bets, they\’re gonna have to leave the Rio to do so this year…
Harrah\’s Chairman and CEO Gary Loveman owns 2.4 percent of the Celtics, and that may or may not be a conflict of interest. The directive reportedly comes straight from David Stern of the NBA, and thus no Harrah\’s properties will be taking bets on the NBA finals in data based sports picks. Talk about a hit for Harrah\’s, the Rio, Caesar\’s Palace, Paris, Bally\’s, Imperial Palace, Flamingo, Bills, Harrah\’s Lake Tahoe, Harrah\’s Reno, Harrah\’s Laughlin … perhaps a mini-boon for Bellagio.
The Palms and Silverton also won\’t be taking bets on the NBA finals, as their owners also have ownership stakes in other NBA teams. I find this pretty darn interesting … because if the NBA can remove betting on the finals at these casinos, why wouldn\’t they want to maintain the same level of \”integrity\” throughout the regular season?