Nevada doesn’t have a problem with illegal bookmakers like other states, but they continue to launder their money in Nevada, according to Kirk Hendrick, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Hendrick’s comments were among the highlights Monday in an opening panel at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas titled, “Where Sports Betting Sits on the Regulatory Agenda.” Such public comments are rare from the Board, which tends to speak through legal filings.

Scott Sibella, former president and COO of Resorts World Las Vegas and former MGM Grand president, pleaded guilty in 2023 on charges of failing to report illegal gamblers playing at MGM Grand in 2018. He was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $250,000.

The Gaming Control Board filed a disciplinary complaint in August against Resorts World and its agents and affiliated companies, alleging it catered to illegal bookmakers with ties to organized crime involving millions of dollars in wagers.

Last month, Wynn Resorts agreed to forfeit $130 million to the federal government to settle criminal allegations that it conspired with unlicensed money-transmitting businesses worldwide to transfer funds to benefit itself. The settlement followed Wynn’s reaching a “non-prosecution agreement” with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve the 10-year-old investigation.

“Our illegal market has been minimized, because we have a legal market,” Hendrick said. “But if you’ve read the newspapers lately, we’ve had a couple of instances where illegal bookies from other states have been coming into Nevada.”

Hendrick was a state deputy attorney general years ago when bookmakers from the East Coast traveled to Nevada to lay off bets from their customers betting the local team.

“With the widespread use of offshore betting sites, that came down quite a bit over the last few years,” Hendrick said. “I’m not saying it’s been eliminated, but it’s easier not to have them lay off and have messenger betting in Nevada.”

Regulators are now seeing many illegal bookmakers making so much money that they’re coming to Nevada and gambling with their ill-gotten gains.

“They come to Vegas because they have a lot of money. If they win great, they’ve laundered money. If they lose, they’ve laundered money,” Hendrick said. “It’s up to our licensees here to be sure they know their customers and where their customers’ money is coming from, and making sure their play equals what they’re bringing in. If your customer makes $100,000 to $150,000 a year, bringing $2 million over a weekend, and betting $15,000 to $20,000 a hand, chances are you don’t know him.”

Hendrick said some of it is casino play but it moves to sports wagering as well.

“These guys whose business is to know sports wagering come to Nevada and wager with legal books, sometimes because they’re involved in nefarious activities, sometimes because they’re laundering money, and sometimes they’re just big players,” Hendrick said. “Whatever those situations are, we can’t have illegal activity. The federal government comes in and says there’s money laundering going on in your state; you need to be aware of it and actively prevent it from happening. We need to keep out these illegal bookies from coming in to attempt to launder their money.”

Illegal activity hasn’t just been dealing with bookies, Hendrick said.

In July, the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a cease-and-desist order, demanding that Playgon Interactive, Inc., and its affiliate Bitrate Productions cease production of live-dealer content from a Las Vegas studio that’s broadcast across the world.

“The live dealer for igaming is becoming really widespread, but our attitude is that’s fine if you’re a licensee and using real gaming employees and following regulations,” Hendrick said. “We don’t believe you can go out to a warehouse in the valley and have live dealers do it. That company shut down.”

The panel raised concerns about illegal bookmakers operating in their states and how offshore books continue to serve customers with little legal jeopardy by operating from abroad.

Dennis Mullen, general counsel at the Indiana Gaming Commission, said it’s frustrating to continue to deal with offshore betting sites operating in states and how even media companies are complicit in taking their advertising.

“We tell them we have licensed and regulated sportsbooks in the state that offer a lot of protections to consumers that you are (allowing illegal sportsbooks) advertising to,” Mullen said. “We spend a lot of time writing letters giving them an education. It’s paramount we continue to work together.”

Marcus Fruchter, executive director of the Illinois Gaming Board, said that with offshore books, international cooperation is necessary, but many are set up in gambling jurisdictions that can’t be reached. While that’s difficult, there are also opportunities to go after local illegal bookmakers.

“We always talk about the benefits of the regulated market and I think education is one and enforcement and going after bad actors when we can is another,” Fruchter said. “We need to understand why people are going to those illegal markets. Customers know when you’re using an illegal marketplace, you’re supporting trafficking in people, guns, and money. You’re not benefiting your community from tax revenue generated. You might not get paid or get fair odds. Those are the kinds of things we need to continue educating them about.”

Hendrick said enforcement against bad actors protects the good actors, but regulators need help from the federal government with their subpoena power. The problem is the federal government has other criminal-justice priorities.

In a question about risks to the industry, Hendrick said a scandal in which consumers didn’t think they were getting a fair shake is the biggest worry. If legal sports-betting companies are “tilting the scale or not being fair to the consumer, that would be a ripple that would go through the industry and cause a lot of harm.