Rural Nevada casino owner sues to allow sports betting at his Washington cardrooms
Maverick Gaming owns and operates 19 cardrooms in Washington. The company is suing the state to allow sports betting in the cardroom. Maverick also owns four Nevada casinos and three casinos in Colorado. The lawsuit was originally filed in D.C., but it has been transferred to the federal District Court in Seattle. It is expected to wind its way to Supreme Court. In January, 20 of Washington’s 29 tribes with gaming operations have amended their compacts to add retail sports bets. Only nine of the tribes have launched retail sportbooks at 12 casinos.
Persson is a professional poker player. He is also the founder of Maverick Gaming. Maverck was started by Persson and Justin Beltram. It bought the Wendover Nugget, Red Lion Casino and High Desert Inn in Nevada and Gold Country Casino in Elko. In 2020, it agreed to buy Eldorado Resorts' Shreveport casino and resort in Louisiana. Maverik will launch its own sports betting brand at its Colorado casinos in 2021. The company does not operate sports gambling. Its locations are part of the William Hill sportsbooks network.
Maverick hired Gibson Dunn, the law firm that represented New Jersey in the state's lawsuit that led to the Supreme Court overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018. Washington is one of 31 states with legal sports betting and one out of five states where tribes with casinos are the only licensed operator. The Washington Indian Gaming Association opposed Maverick’s sports betting efforts in state legislature. WIGA Executive Director Rebecca George said the Maverck lawsuit makes a mockery of the federal Indian gaming regulatory act.
Maverick's cardrooms are located in communities surrounding the Seattle metropolitan area. Baccarat is 80 percent of his business in Washington. The company pays an average of $17.4 million annually in local taxes in jurisdictions where it operates. Under the company's proposed legislation, Maverick would pay the state a 10 percent tax on all sports betting revenue. Maverik acquired its card rooms in several transactions between 2018 and 2019. It is a private company. Persson hasn't ruled out expanding the presence. He said sports gambling would boost the overall net revenue of the business.
