LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Nevada Gaming Control Board followed through with what they said they would do last month and they nominated illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer for Nevada's list of persons to be excluded or ejected from licensed gaming establishments, which is nicknamed the Black Book.
On Wednesday, Bowyer was nominated for consideration and last month, it was Wayne Nix. Both operated out of Las Vegas casinos for years.
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"Over the course of at least nine years, from 2014 to 2023, Mr. Bowyer took tens of millions of dollars in illegal wagers from at least 700 bettors. Further, Mr. Bowyer frequented Las Vegas casinos and used illicit proceeds from his illegal bookmaking business to gamble and pay off casino markers," said Nevada Deputy Attorney General Nona Lawrence. "Mr. Bowyer also solicited new customers from casino marketing hosts at the casinos he frequented, sometimes offering a commission or gratuity for customer referrals. Mr. Bowyer also admitted that he solicited valets and other casino employees to feed him clients in return for a fee."
One of those bettors was Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. He was sentenced to about four years in prison.
Board member Judge George Assad said he didn't agree with that sentence.
"Mr. Mizuhara was a compulsive, degenerate, highly-addicted gambler with access to millions of dollars belonging to Ohtani. Mr. Bowyer acted like a heroin drug dealer with no moral compass, who kept on providing the heroin until the drug addict died," Assad said. "Now, he is already talking about his infamous actions to various media outlets to promote his book about this tragic saga. He is also hoping for a movie deal upon his release from prison in a few months ... I don't know how that works out but the drug dealer gets one year and the drug user gets four."
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In August, Bowyer was sentenced to 12 months in prison and two years of supervised release. A judge also ordered him to attend gambling addiction counseling and pay $1.6 million in restitution.
He began serving that sentence on Oct. 10, 2025 and Lawrence estimates that he will be released on Aug. 16, 2026. State gaming regulators asked what his supervised release will look like and if he will come back to Nevada.
"He did an interview, I believe it was with Forbes, where they asked him if he was going to be able to gamble again and he believes that he will once he gets off those two years of supervision," Lawrence said.
"I guess that's another good reason to put him in the list of excluded persons here in Nevada," board member Chandeni Sendall replied.
It's something that Assad agreed with.
"Mr. Bowyer just came through Nevada like a vortex. He has toyed with us. He was just thumbing his nose at us. He played at Caesars for seven years. He played at other casinos around town with impunity. He knew what he was doing. He was ruining people's lives," Assad said. "He was tempting hosts with bribes if they would refer customers to him, knowing that they would probably be terminated if they were caught but he didn't care. He was responsible for so much negativity, worldwide negativity, throughout the escapade that he engaged in."
State regulators outlined five major reasons why Bowyer should be added to the Black Book with Chair Mike Dreitzer wanted to reiterate a point to all.
"Nevada gaming is a privilege. Participation, whether as an owner, operator, agent, or patron, is conditioned on conduct that does not undermine public trust or expose the industry to reputational, operational, or regulatory harm," Dreitzer said. "Such conduct creates risks not only to individual licensees but to the system as a whole. The list of excluded persons exists for precisely these circumstances. It exists to draw a clear line where conduct falls so far outside acceptable bounds that continued association with Nevada's gaming industry is inconsistent with the public interest. It serves as a measure that's designated to prevent future harm, not merely to react to past events."
Bowyer and Nix's actions did lead to a chain of events where casinos around town were fined millions of dollars and several people lost their jobs.
Resorts World was issued a $10.5 million fine, the second largest in state history, MGM Resorts International was fined $8.5 million, and Caesars Entertainment was fined $7.8 million.
When Caesars Entertainment executives appeared before state gaming regulators last month, they said they're also overhauling some of their internal procedures, the individuals involved in the Bowyer incident have been removed, and they pledged to do better.
With cases like these, some have questioned if more federal oversight is needed. However, Assad shot that down and said the Nix and Bowyer cases are examples that Nevada can regulate itself.
"We can clean up our own dirty laundry," Assad said. "There is no need for a federal gaming oversight commission and there is no need to have a federal gaming tax to pay for such a commission, as has been talked about by several senators and other employees of Congress."
So what happens next?
Bowyer and Nix will receive formal notice of the Board's nomination and they will have the chance to request a hearing before the Nevada Gaming Commission. The commission will hear the matter and vote on whether they should be added to the list or not.
According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, there are currently 37 people on the list of excluded persons. The last time someone was added to that list was on April 18, 2024.