Closed circuit remote wagering on sports has finally been approved in Las Vegas. The State of Nevada Gaming Control Board granted International Sports Wagering Inc. (ISWI) approval for SportXction, a PC wagering system for placing sports wagers over telephone lines throughout the state of Nevada. The company has already tested SportXction with several sportsbooks in Las Vegas and Reno. They can now pursue relationships with other Nevada sportsbooks to attract home and casino customers.
Punters can bet on a play-by-play basis, including sides, totals, parlays and more, while watching the game on television. The wagers offered are mostly for short-term plays, such as whether the next play will be a run or a pass, whether the next pitch will be a ball or a strike and whether a shooter will make two foul shots. The wagers have odds associated with them which relate to the probable outcome of the proposition being wagered upon, and the odds are adjusted in real time by proprietary artificial intelligence software to reflect player sentiment, as derived from the betting patterns.
Currently, the system handles interactive action on football, basketball and baseball and is available for PC wagering from Nevada homes, businesses and casinos.
The system uses Alliance Gaming's RAVE verification system to ensure bets are placed from sites only in Nevada. ISWI signed a seven-year agreement in December 1998 with Alliance, giving ISWI exclusive use of the system in Nevada.