Radio host plans to go to court over 30-1 bet after gaming board rules against him

The Nevada Gaming Control Board ruled in favor of the Westgate sportsbook in a dispute with VSiN host Gill Alexander over a bet on the 2020 French Open.

Alexander placed a $1,000 wager at 30-1 odds at the Westgate in January 2020 on Iga Swiatek to win the French Open. The major tennis tournament was postponed in March because of the coronavirus pandemic and rescheduled for September.

After Swiatek won the event, Alexander tried to cash his ticket at the Westgate and was told it had long since been refunded.

The book had refunded all bets in March and posted a new French Open betting pool in accordance with a long-standing house rule that the event must be held within eight days of the scheduled date to be considered action. The tournament was originally scheduled for May.

Alexander, host of “A Numbers Game,” said he didn’t check the rules. He took the dispute to the GCB, where a gaming agent ruled in favor of the Westgate. Alexander appealed the decision. A hearing examiner heard the appeal and made a recommendation to the board, which upheld the agent’s decision.

“I wish this whole thing could have been avoided,” Westgate sportsbook director John Murray said. “It could have been very easily avoided. All Gill had to do was ask anybody at the Westgate, and he had six months to do so.”

Alexander said via text message he’s “Definitely going to appeal. I trust this time in a more impartial setting.”

Once gaming has ruled on a dispute, the next step for bettors, per statute, is to take their case to the “local district court,” which in this case should be Clark County District Court.

Alexander said he didn’t think he received a fair hearing because one of former NGCB Chairman Mark Lipparelli’s companies manages the casino at the Westgate.

“In a climate where sportsbooks in other jurisdictions are increasingly bettor friendly, my claim here in Nevada is curiously disadvantaged,” he stated in a text. “(Lipparelli) made his former colleagues aware of his presence at my little hearing via audio. At a minimum, the optics of this fly in the face of the promise of impartiality.

“I made and won a bet. That a casino still tries to apply vague rules arbitrarily in this day and age is what this case is about.”

The board sent the following response via email to the Review-Journal:

“In this case, both sides were represented, and the decision turned on the house rules. Given the multiple layers of review (agent, supervisor, then deputy chief before hearing and then review by the assigned board member post-decision), the system is designed to ensure the decision is fair.”

Golden Nugget contest returns

Registration is open for the 2021 Golden Nugget Ultimate Football Contest, which was canceled last year because of the pandemic.

The entry fee is $1,000, with a maximum of three entries, and contestants select seven college or NFL sides each week during the 18-week NFL season. Contestants can submit their selections this year on the Golden Nugget mobile app.

The 2019 contest had 282 entries. Two entries from the same contestant, Michael Wachs of Westchester County, New York, tied for first with a 73-42-4 ATS record (63.48 percent) and received $79,062 each for a total of $158,124.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.