Question of the Day - 06 October 2023

The  whole not-connecting-a-call-to-the-sports-book situation is a holdover from the old days. Back then, no calls could come in or go out for fear that sports-betting information would be transmitted over state lines, which was against federal law. The Wire Act, passed in 1961 during the John F. Kennedy administration, made it illegal to pass gambling information and instructions across state lines through the use of electronic wires, such as telephones.  

But since the proliferation and ubiquity of cell phones and the end of PASPA in 2017, the rules have been relaxed. Apparently, however, many if not most casino PBX operators haven't gotten the memo. 

Our guy in the sports books, Chris Andrews, director of sports betting at South Point and author of Then One Day and Then One Year (as well as Then One Life, which he just handed in and is currently going through editorial), says it still even happens to him when he calls other sports books. He tells us, "I've found that if you ask for whomever you’re looking for personally rather than the sports book in general, you have a better chance to get who you want."

Of course, that means knowing the name of someone, anyone, who works at a Strip sports book or three that you can ask for and we'll leave how to accomplish that task up to your imagination.