Entity wagering desk — figures as of the dates shownFigures as of the dates shownFirms table|News log
WAGERTRADERSEntity Wagering Questions Answered
NSIG33,456.91on a 25,000 positionas of 8/26/16
Contrarian-3.58%year to dateas of 2016
Bettor Inv.84-56-4wins-losses-pushesJune 2016

Nevada opened sports betting to outside money

This desk exists to set out what the vetted Nevada wagering entities have published about themselves, in one place and in one format, so that the terms of each can be compared line against line. Every figure below is quoted from the entity's own statement and carries the date that statement was made.

On June 2, 2015 Nevada ratified Senate Bill 443. The bill allows an individual or group to form a business entity which seeks out investors from anywhere in the world, with the purpose of placing wagers on the outcomes of sporting events to profit and divide between the group. The law's purpose is to increase tax revenue due to the increased sports betting handle, slow the flow of American money being spent offshore with illegal bookmakers, and create transparency in the domestic sports betting market.

The law itself is not complicated, but can also be very vague. This has caused all but one sports book and bank in the valley to take a wait and see approach. The law is now over a year old and progress has been slow adapting it to the sports betting scene in the state. This will change rapidly as the firms begin to show consistent returns, more entities get vetted, and additional sports book operators become involved.

Nevada has created a new investment vehicle similar to a mutual or hedge fund. This form of investing is so new that the individuals getting involved now will shape the future of the sport wagering industry.

The statute and the entity structure, point by point

Vetted entity snapshot — figure as each entity stated it
EntityFigureBasis statedAs of
NSIG33,456.91value of a 25,000 position opened 3/31/168/26/16
Bettor Investments84-56-4wins, losses and pushes recorded in June 2016June 2016
Contrarian-3.58%year-to-date return as last published2016
Hi-Line20%management fee assessed at season end2016 terms
Athletics Inv.50minimum on the low-limit weekend fund2016 terms

Source: each entity's own published statement, on the date shown.

Vetted entity terms of record
EntityMinimumInvestor shareManagement feeFee assessedLock-up
Nevada Sports Investment Group25,00070%30% on earnings, high watermarkQuarterly above previous highNone
Bettor Investments50085%15% on earnings1st of each month, positive returns onlyNone
Contrarian Investments1,50080%20% on earnings, high watermarkBi-annually above previous highBi-annual term
Hi-Line Sports Investment Group1,00080%20%Season end or on withdrawalNone
Athletics Investments LLC1,000 / 50not stated20% on winningsnot statedShort term, locked for the season

Terms as each entity stated them. Where an entity did not state a line it is marked not stated rather than estimated.

Dated performance lines of record
EntityFigureBasis statedAs of
Nevada Sports Investment Group33,456.91Value of a 25,000 position opened 3/31/168/26/16
Nevada Sports Investment Group32,988.54Value of the same position as stated earlier8/5/16
Bettor Investments33-18-3Wins, losses and pushesApril 2016
Bettor Investments46-36-3Wins, losses and pushesMay 2016
Bettor Investments84-56-4Wins, losses and pushesJune 2016
Contrarian Investments+19.5%Year-to-date return as stated on the desk summary2016
Contrarian Investments-3.58%Year-to-date return as last stated on the record page2016

Every line above is quoted from the entity that published it, with its own date.

Analysis stream

Las Vegas Review-Journal5/22/2018

Slot machine maker IGT signals interest in US sports betting

IGT, the world's dominant slot-machine manufacturer, is ready to jump into the promising sports-wagering business in the United States. Now that the Supreme Court has struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, states will be able to establish their own sports-betting systems. Tuesday's first-quarter IGT earnings call left little doubt that the London-based company would be a player in providing technology for sports betting, competing head to head with Las Vegas-based rival Scientific Games.

Commentary3/1/2018

Entity wagering may quickly become a thing of the past in Nevada

A follow-up to a two-part report arguing that entity wagering was doomed to fail. The past week's headlines have helped confirm those suspicions, the writer argues, after one of the better known companies attempting the venture closed its books and took depositors' money with it.

CalvinAyre2/24/2018

Nevada entity betting fund clients claim they have been stiffed

One of Nevada's so-called entity betting operations has left a legacy of clients wondering about the fate of their deposited funds. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Nevada secretary of state and attorney general had received complaints from clients of Bettor Investments, which formerly operated a Nevada-licensed entity betting operation. In 2015 Nevada passed a law allowing out-of-state residents to participate in the state's legal sports betting market through mutual fund-style pools. Investors had no say in specific wagering decisions, which were made by the half-dozen or so Nevada-licensed entities that launched following the law's passage.

Regulatory commentary1/16/2018

Entity sports wagering in Nevada

Recent articles about the United States Supreme Court's possible lifting of the federal sports wagering ban has resulted in some increased interest in Nevada's entity wagering rules. The leading question is what state gaming licensing requirements apply to the bettors. The answer is none.

Sports Betting Simulator1/5/2018

How can sports betting be a profitable investment

Sports betting appeals to the smart bettor because it does not have a fixed house edge for the casinos. Sports betting requires more skill than luck and is similar to live poker. You do not win every time, but the skilled handicapper has a large advantage over the recreational bettor. The argument turns on an understanding of numbers, odds and sports.

Pinnacle7/5/2017

Interview with Joe Peta, stock trader turned betting expert

A follow-up to a review of Trading Bases, the story of a Wall Street trader who turned to baseball betting after he was run over by an ambulance and fired by the investment bank that employed him while he was injured. In this interview we learn more about the man who developed a baseball-betting model and wrote a book about how he did it, what he thinks the future has in store for betting, and his advice for gaining an edge over bookmakers.

How these records were compiled

Every figure on this desk is quoted from the entity that published it, together with the date that entity attached to it. Where two figures for the same entity disagree, both are kept with their dates rather than reconciled. Nothing here is a projection and no figure is updated between the dates shown.

Terms are transcribed from each entity's own published overview: minimum, investor share, management fee, the cadence on which that fee is assessed, and the lock-up. Entries in the news log summarise the publication named on each entry and nothing further is added to them.

This desk holds no client money, executes no wagers and takes no position in any entity listed. The full index of dated figures sets out every line held.