Do Books gamble?

[mls]

Now that question sounds pretty strange ... of course they gamble! But do they ever want to have a TON on only one side of a game and NOT A PENNY on the other ...

I always thought books wanted two way action, maybe being forced a little heavy on the dog side by sqaure action.

But Olympic, a top book, is obviously wanting only dog money on a tennis matchup today. They have Vicente/Enqvist at +250/-400. Most other books (WSEX, Carib, etc) have it +210/-270.

Now obviously Olympic is going to get all dog bets at +250 and absolutely no favorite money at -400.

In effect "the Greek" is "taking all bets on the dog at +250" - this is pure gambling.

But is there anything wrong in that - can't the Greek offer the +250 to customers rather than bet the -270 at a dozen other books himself?

Do books gamble ... I know the answer now.

[bucky]

My opinion is that Spiro is trying to get the dog money first because he thinks the other books will raise their line later on this afternoon. Let's watch it and see if Engvist comes down to 260 or so by match time.

However, let's see what you think of this theory? I think some books will throw the player a bone once in awhile to get them in the "store" and hope you bet on a few other things while you are there.

[bucky]

Nope, the match never even twitched. Could be wrong but not very many people must have bet it.

[PerpetualCzech]

Can't say much here except that Spiro certainly does have the gambling spirit in him.

[This message has been edited by PerpetualCzech (edited 08-11-2000).]

[mls]

Not surprisingly, "the Greek" won ...

[AussieVamp2]

so there's a tennis betting system for you

[bucky]

Yes, the Greek is my new tennis tout.

[Underdog7]

Do books gamble? No doubt they do just by taking your bets but nowadays is way different than the "old fashion" way. Bookmaking before had only few options to play. Totals and sides that's about it. Now, with all the betting options aside from I mentioned such as half time, who will score first, will John Madden say boom , etc., etc, shops don't necessarily have to balance it anymore. "The more risk you take, the chances are slim of winning". Bottom line, they got the ADVANTAGE.

[Underdog7]

In addition to what I'm saying, I just saw a post here in BW saying that he had a hard time winning at Olympic sportsbook. We all know that Olympic is the shop the offers most lines and this is just a typical example of what I am trying to say. MORE LINES MORE DEATH for the players.

[stardust]

I signed up at Olympic yesterday - in part because they offer NFL betting by quarter. I have checked their site often and the always have a first half line on every NFL game. How many other books have that?

I had a problem with the sign-up (it was the bank of course) and Olympic really went way beyond getting the whole mess straightened out.

It seems to me that Spiro is an individual who has out his personal stamp on the business he owns. I, for one,like to see that sort of guy succeed.

As always - Good Luck,

Sonny