Wynn Releases Opening November Nine Sports Book Odds

One of the new things with this latest World Series of Poker (as significant as ESPN\’s live coverage, imho) was the introduction of sports-book bets on WSOP outcomes. Think about how much effort went in to making that possible — first, changing the law such that Nevada sports books could expand their offerings to include non-athletic contests … then running specific bets through Nevada Gaming regulators … all so non-Caesars casinos could spread action on the WSOP? That\’s not exactly the kinda thing done on a whim … especially when the introduction of \”live\” TV coverage adds a whole new element of necessary oversight for GCB enforcement.

The Wynn seems to be wanting to take the lead on spreading such non-athletic \”exotics\”, with Race and Sports Book Director Johnny Avello establishing himself as the go-to guru for entertainment-based wagers — having set for-entertainment-only odds (with remarkable accuracy) for the Oscars, beauty pageants, Dancing with the Stars … even fashion at the British Royal Wedding, and the breed of dog to win the Westminster Dog Show.

Read below for more official word on Wynn Las Vegas/Encore\’s WSOP offerings:

Wynn Las Vegas Accepts Bets on the $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold\’em Poker Main Event Championship for the first time in gaming history
Odds are set on the nine players participating in the November final table

LAS VEGAS, July 20,2011—The Race and Sports Book at Wynn Las Vegas is now accepting wagers on the $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold ‘em Poker Main Event Championship to be held November 5 – 7 in Las Vegas. Wagers can be placed on each of the final nine players to win the event or on the top two finishers (quinella).

New Nevada gambling regulations this year allow casinos to offer wagering opportunities on non-sporting events. On July 15, the Nevada Gaming Control Board provided approval to accept wagers on the $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold ‘em Poker Main Event Championship.

Wynn Las Vegas became the first Las Vegas casino to offer wagers on non-sporting events in early July, when the Race and Sports Book accepted bets on the preliminary rounds of the No Limit Texas Hold ‘em Poker tournament. Lines included whether a woman would finish higher than 40th and whether poker legends Johnny Chan, Allen Cunningham or Erik Seidel would win money in the event.

\”This is a great event for wagers,\” said Wynn Race and Sports Director Johnny Avello. “Not only will gamblers be betting on other gamblers, but non-gamblers who just have a love of poker and follow this event every year can get in on the action too.”

Wynn Race and Sports Book Director, John Avello, has been providing entertainment odds on the Academy Awards, the Emmys, the Golden Globes, beauty and other popular reality competition shows for more than three years.