One of Senator John McCain's problems in Nevada had been his strong and vocal opposition to amateur sports betting. In 2001 McCain wrote:

 

"Not only does the Las Vegas betting clearinghouse send a confusing message about the propriety and legality of amateur sports gambling, the publication throughout the country of Las Vegas-generated point spreads fuels illegal gambling in the judgment of the NGISC, and steals victories from young athletes who manage to beat their opponents but not the spread."

 

Interestingly, on the McCain 2008 site, as a candidate, McCain demonstrates a more relaxed view offering "McCain Basketball Bracket." The set up looks familiar to anyone who has ever seen an office pool. By the way, McCain picks North Carolina to go all the way with a final score of 157. That number, of course, is for tiebreakers, and McCain does not seem concerned that, as he writes of point spreads, that this extraneous tiebreaker number "steals victories from young athletes who manage to beat their opponents but not the spread." So here is how the McCain gaming (not gambling, but an actual game) NCAA experience works. Supporters and fans enter their picks for the tournament against McCain's choices, and winners get prizes like a  "the McCain fleece," hat or pin. Obviously this is not exactly gambling but still a strange recreation for someone who titled his 2001 article "It's Past Time to Ban Amateur Sports Gambling" and was so worried about even the "propriety" of the issue

 

 

Local gambling expert Anthony Curtis, asked by the Buffet to look at McCain's NCAA game, put it this way: "It's not gambling, because no one's risking anything. But it treads close enough that I think it's a curious thing for him to do. I think any contest like that, even though it's not using pointspreads, trades on the idea of gambling. Again, I find it curious that he'd go there."