It was only a matter of time before the infant American sports betting industry would look for people with expertise in that unique field. Nevada was ripe for the picking as it has long been the only state in the union to offer full-service sports wagering in this country.

Thus, the news that DraftKings had hired three top Vegas professionals was not a matter of if, but when.

Johnny Avello, Frank Kunovic, and Ed Malinowski will all join DraftKings from Las Vegas. This is a severe talent drain for the local industry. I also get the feeling we have not seen the last of it either.

If I were a professional headhunter, I’d be contacting other Nevada race and sports book executives sooner rather than later.

Operating a sports book is part art and part science. Folks on the outside think it’s easy. But believe me, that it is not.

Avello is arguably the most well known of this trio. For the past 13 years, Avello headed the race and sports book operation at Wynn Las Vegas. He is considered the preeminent bookmaker when it came to proposition bets and future books.

Wynn Las Vegas has already announced that it will no longer offer a 2019 Kentucky Derby Future pool. Avello’s knowledge and experience in this regard could not be replaced.

Kunovic was head of the race and sports books for Caesars Entertainment. If that doesn’t ring a bell for you, that’s because the company was formerly known as Harrah’s.

Some of the major Vegas Strip race and sports books that Kunovic managed include Bally’s, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Harrah’s Laughlin, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Rio, and The Linq.

Malinowski was head of race and sports for Golden Entertainment that included the Stratosphere and the two Arizona Charlie’s on Boulder Highway and also on Decatur.

The dynamics of the sports betting industry are moving quickly. The Federal government has left it up to each individual state as to whether they will offer sports betting or not.

In fact, it will not be long before the Nevada sports book handle will be dwarfed by individual states. Nevada handled approximately $4.8-billion in sports bets in 2017. The simple fact that most other states have a much larger population base to draw from will lead to much greater handle.

But for the time being the expertise is here. Sports betting is a mature industry in Nevada and is highly regulated by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

DraftKings is wise enough to know they don’t have all the answers as it pertains to sports betting. Being smart is not necessarily having all the answers: it’s knowing where to find the answers.

And in hiring people like Avello, Kunovic and Malinowski to their operation these men bring outstanding knowledge and many years of experience. These folks won’t have to reinvent the wheel because they are the wheel.

This article is a reprint from AmericasBestRacing.net. To view the original story and comment, click here.