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Do casinos jam cell phones?

All in all, it looks like phone signals jammed by casinos is an urban myth.

lasvegasadvisor.com - Do Las Vegas Sports Books Jam Cell Phones?

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Is there any truth to the legend that Las Vegas sports books used electronic “jamming” devices to disable cellular phone signals? I can distinctly remember that I would lose service as I stepped into the Mirage book.

A:

A lot of rumors float around about the casinos jamming cell-phone signals.

Why? Well, cell phones are potential cheating devices, so it stands to reason that the casinos would want to disable them on the floor. They can also compromise privacy (the old ban of taking photos in the casino) and the casinos don't care for people photographing security areas or conducting loud phone conversations, which distract from the serious business of their patrons losing money. By law, cell phones are banned in and around Nevada casino sports books. Some people believe that the ban has to do with the federal prohibition against transmitting gambling info over phone lines. But the real reason is messenger betting. Sports-betting syndicates used to station people in sports books around town and when they wanted to bet, for example, $50,000 on a game, they called up the "beards" at each book, who then bet the max the sports book allowed. By having 10 people, say, betting $5,000 each simultaneously, the syndicate could get down the $50K before the line moved in response to the big bet. Sports books complained to the Gaming Control Board, which put into place a number of rules, including the ban on cell phones. Of course, nowadays, with everyone carrying a phone and half of them staring at it no matter where they are, the books are much more relaxed about their use, except when one is near the betting counter. Then the book tends to get a bit antsy about them. Still, they remain illegal, so the ban can be, and often is, enforced anytime against anyone anywhere around the sports book and at the table games. But as for jamming the signals, we have it on good authority that casinos don't actively engage in the practice. Chris Andrews, sports book director at South Point and author of two of our best books, Then One Day ... 40 Years of Bookmaking in Nevada and Then One Year ... History’s Craziest Year as Seen by a Las Vegas Bookmaker, tells us no. "I don’t think we’re sophisticated enough to pull that off," he admits. Besides, he notes, "There’s so much electrical equipment and metal in the buildings, it all interferes naturally with the signal. In certain points in South Point, I lose my signal." And now for the clincher. "Plus, you have to remember that all the executives are on their cell phones all day. I know at South Point, we’ve spent a ton of money to enhance the signal, not suppress it." Andrew Uyal, author of our excellent book The Blackjack Insiders, concurs. "I've never heard of casinos jamming signals. They're big concrete and metal fortresses that tend to mess with the signal anyway. However, I am aware of signal boosters underground in our back-of-house areas." All in all, it looks like phone signals jammed by casinos is an urban myth.

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