Book it: Hockey interests bettors

Rumors of an NHL franchise relocating to Las Vegas persist. In the meantime, interest in the Wranglers is peaking so much, the sports books finally have adopted the local ECHL team.

Orleans sports book director Bob Scucci made the first move by posting a line on Las Vegas' playoff game against Idaho at the Orleans Arena on Wednesday.

Scucci made the Wranglers 1 1/2-goal favorites at minus-110. The total was 5 1/2 with the over at minus-125.

"I want to start putting these lines up," said Scucci, who posted the line about three hours before the 7 p.m. start. "If we're going to have that many people coming to the casino to watch the game, to put it up on the betting board seems like a natural tie-in."

For the first time in their four-year existence, the Wranglers are available for legal wagering. The Wranglers, the Steelheads and the league did not resist.

Wranglers president Billy Johnson said if betting on the team can be used as a marketing tool, he's for it. He also said he has no concerns that players could be affected in a negative way. "I don't think we have any problem with it as an organization," Johnson said.

ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna said players and team officials are banned from wagering, but he said the league won't try to stop sports books from posting lines.

"We don't have any jurisdiction or prohibition on anybody outside our league," McKenna said. "We couldn't prevent a sports book from running wagers on ECHL games.

"It's not something we would condone, but we also recognize we're not an entity that's going to be able to control that."

Scucci said Wranglers games are open for wagering at all nine Boyd and Coast Casinos properties. The betting limits are $1,000 on the side and $500 on the total.

Las Vegas, which saw its 18-game win streak stopped Monday, was 7-2-3 against Idaho this season before Wednesday's Game 3. The Wranglers were 2-0-2 at home against the Steelheads, with all four games going to overtime.

Scucci said Las Vegas would be a prohibitive favorite on the money line, so he posted the 1 1/2-goal line. "The only dilemma we face is 90 percent of the people coming to watch these games are wanting to bet on the Wranglers," Scucci said.

Betting on minor league hockey in Las Vegas is not new. When the Thunder of the International Hockey League played at the Thomas & Mack Center from 1993 to 1999, the team often was on the betting board at the Imperial Palace.

"It wasn't a lot of action, but we definitely had a loyal base of fans who were betting on the games," said Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay, who posted Thunder odds while he ran the Imperial Palace book.

Kornegay said the Hilton might offer Wranglers wagering: "We've had inquiries from fans about putting up Wranglers games. There is a possibility that we could do it."