Olympic wagering available in Las Vegas first time since 1998

William Hill went all out with Olympic props.

For the first time since 1998, bettors in Las Vegas can now wager on the Olympics thanks to a Nevada Gaming Regulation change last year.

And if looking to bet on the most obscure of events, the largest wagering menu in the state is offered at William Hill's 106 sports books. They've got 96 betting options for the Brazil summer games scheduled to begin Aug. 5.

"The action has been better than I thought it would be at this juncture," said William Hill's top oddsmaker Nick Bogdanovich.

"I'm expecting once the television coverage starts with people getting more involved in the stories and hype coming from ESPN, NBC and the radio, we're going to get a 'see and react' type of deal from bettors. And now it's more convenient than ever for people to make a wager as events are happening with the mobile phone app offering everything we have on the board."

The last time Nevada betting on the Olympics took place was in the 1998 winter games, and action was large for the final hockey games where Dominik Hasek and the Czech Republic won the the gold. The games were late at night, but the books were still full with dozens of fans rooting their bets in while others just watched because they had the Olympic spirit.

Soon after, Senator John McCain questioned why Nevada didn't take action on its two college basketball teams, but did for all others. McCain was campaigning for prohibiting wagers on college athletics. Nevada lawmakers quickly reacted and made a change allowing UNLV and Nevada-Reno to be on the board, but they also threw in Olympics in the amended verbiage as a prohibited event with other amateur events such as high school athletics.

The topic of Olympic wagering didn't come before the state again until 2014 when the South Point, William Hill and a few other sports book operators campaigned for a change, since most of the athletes are professional anyway, and last year it was approved.

Read More Here......Complete list of William Hill props on VegasInsider.com