Nevada is getting ready to usher in a brand new player on the sports betting market, following the state’s Gaming Commission unanimously approving Boomer’s Sportsbook on Thursday. 

Boomer’s is a new independent operator managed by Joe Asher, a longtime industry veteran with emphasis on sports betting and racing, a Gambling Hall of Fame inductee, and president of Sports Betting for IGT for almost three years until June 2024. 

Opening for Business August 1 

Asher used a LinkedIn post to break the big news. “We were licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission today. Opening for business August 1 in Elko at the old Commercial Casino & August 4 at Ellis Island in Las Vegas and Casino Valle Verde in Henderson.”

Boomer’s chief executive officer also took the opportunity to mention the long work “to get to this stage” while expressing his excitement for the “journey ahead” next to their “great team”.

Garry Ellis, who has partnered with William Hill, owns both Casino Valle Verde and Ellis Island Casino. 

Boomer’s also plans to launch a mobile app, giving bettors across Nevada digital access to the only independently run sportsbook in the state.

Commissioners praised Asher’s impressive track record, calling him a trusted figure in the sports betting world. 

“Any Form of Gambling Should Be Regulated”

Asher, who founded Lucky’s Race & Sports Book before selling it to William Hill in 2012, used the hearing to take a strong stance on the growing issue of prediction markets operating under federal oversight.

“As a rule I am of the view that any form of gambling should be regulated,” Asher told the Commission, while proceeding to share his father’s gambling problem.

“My father introduced me to gambling at a very early age, and he had a gambling problem. He was a compulsive gambler, and it caused great damage in his life. I have seen on a personal level the harm that can come from gambling.”

He continued to call any type of unregulated gambling “antithetical to the public interest”, explaining that he “strongly” opposes it. 

“The idea that somebody could have this hypothetical right to offer essentially unregulated gambling or gambling under the auspices of a federal agency is inconsistent with the long-standing policy in our country that gambling is essentially a matter regulated by the states.”

Asher also questioned the notion that predictive markets, offering wagers under Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight, could coexist with state gaming laws. 

“That doesn’t make much sense to me,” he said, referencing the Supreme Court’s 2018 PASPA ruling. “I’m always in favor gambling being something that’s regulated and at the state level.”

He also backed Nevada’s in-person registration requirement for mobile betting. “It applies to my business,” Asher said. “It wouldn’t exist except for the in-person sign up requirement.”

Asher praised recent changes to Nevada’s horse racing regulations, calling outdated requirements for licensed disseminators costly and unnecessary in the digital age.