Dave Tuley of ViewFromVegas.com writes about the launch of Lucky's Race and Sports Books in his column in the Daily Racing Form.

July 5, 2008 

A new player in the Nevada race and sports book industry debuted Tuesday in Elko, located in the relatively desolate northeastern part of the state, about 320 miles north of Las Vegas and 230 miles east of Reno.

Lucky's Race & Sports Books opened in the Red Lion and High Desert casinos. Lucky's is part of Brandywine Bookmaking LLC, the brainchild of president and CEO Joe Asher, who previously was the managing director of Cantor Gaming, a subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald that he led through Nevada gaming approval for wireless gaming devices that are currently undergoing a field trial at the Venetian. Asher left Cantor in 2007 to return to his first love, racing and sports. In fact, he took the Brandywine name from the defunct Brandywine Raceway in Delaware, where he went to the races with his dad as a kid and where he got his first job at age 16. The track closed in 1989, but the name has found a new home in Nevada.

The company will operate race and sports books for casinos that don't have the staff, know-how, or desire to book the games themselves. Nevadans and regular visitors are certainly familiar with the Leroy's chain of 61 sports books and Cal Neva, which operates 30 around the state.

Brandywine, and Asher, received final approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission last month and didn't waste any time in launching the operation in Elko. On Thursday, the network grew with Reno's Grand Sierra (formerly the Reno Hilton) coming on line. Asher is still awaiting approval to add the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas and the Casino Fandango in Carson City to the list, and that should take place before football season.

But while it looks like Lucky's will be in direct competition with Leroy's and Cal Neva (and they certainly are to a fair extent), Lucky's director of sports operations and public relations Jimmy Vaccaro said they're not looking to take over that whole segment of the market.

"If we get where we want to get, and Joe has a three-year plan, we think about 20 locations would be ideal," said Vaccaro, who was most recently marketing director for Leroy's but is most known for his bookmaking days when he opened the Mirage sports book in 1989 and also helped start up the race and sports book at the Atlantis in the Bahamas. "We need to be where it's easy to get in and out to make a bet and we need enough outlets so we can book the games properly."

The actual director of bookmaking is Tony DiTommaso, who has been in the Nevada bookmaking industry for more than 20 years. He was most recently in charge of the Cal Neva network.

"Tony knows bookmaking, but he also knows the day-to-day way to run various outlets, with all the staffing and everything else that's involved," Vaccaro said.

Asher has promised an emphasis on the horse racing end of the business. Vaccaro was instrumental in starting some of the handicapping contests at Leroy's as well as a radio show.

"First things first," he said. "It was a seven-month application process to get approval from gaming. Now we just want to let people know the doors are open and then we can work on that other stuff."