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June 22, 2001
Some Vegas Bet Shops Are Bucking Trend That Has Made Sports Betting Irrelevant
You are the weakest link, goodbye!
We’re referring not to a hapless game show contestant, but to the way sports betting in Las Vegas compares with the offshore industry.
The demise of what was once a monopolistic franchise – legal wagering on sports – and how it was frittered away by shortsighted bean counters has been well chronicled.
However, recently there have been small, but encouraging, signs that some casino managements in the desert are waking up to the fact that sportsbooks are more than simply an accommodation for hotel guests.
The Strip, with industrial-strength corporate knuckleheads running the show, hasn’t changed course. The consolidation that saw Caesars Palace and the Mirage come under new managements meant that no longer would their sportsbooks be bastions of low vig and aggressive bookmaking for savvy bettors.
The small scale Renaissance that is now taking place is centered in the locals-oriented joints, notably Coast Resorts and Station Casinos.
Coast, which has five properties, is running a 10-cent line in baseball and getting all the action it can handle.
Race and sportsbook director Bert Osborne says, “I’m getting all the baseball business in Las Vegas with a 10-cent line. Nobody in town writes more business than we do Monday through Friday. Not one property, unless they get one large player.”
On weekends, Osborne concedes that Coast can’t compete with the large Strip hotels that have up to 5,000 rooms and lots of pit players.
Recently, Coast returned to a 24-hour sportsbook schedule at three of its properties, introduced overnight betting and increased its limits to among the highest in the city.
Once again, it will cater to locals by offering a no-pointspread football contest which has large weekly payouts as well as a grand prize of over $100,000.
To complement its phone betting accounts, Coast is the first bet shop in town to offer betting by computer through its closed-loop wagering system. This system offers a bigger betting menu than the book’s telephone accounts.
Back in the ‘90s, the Barbary Coast offered a nickel line in baseball. That amenity is not slated to make a comeback.
Station Casinos offers a dime line in baseball and is raising its limits for football.
The company, which operates eight properties and nine sportsbooks including Barley’s in Henderson, recently hired Art Manteris to run its sportsbook operations.
Manteris previously was vice president in charge of race and sportsbooks at Hilton casinos. Although not popular with the town’s wiseguys, because he discourages their action, Manteris has strong administrative experience in running a large sportsbook.
Presumably, bringing him aboard with the requisite big salary indicates that Station properties will woo sports bettors even more vigorously than in the past.
First Crop of Football Pubs Is Out. If the NBA playoffs are over, you know it’s time for the first football preview magazines to start hitting the newsstands.
Every year it seems more annuals glut the newsstands, many of dubious value. However, they are a necessary resource for most bettors. Just bear in mind that they all generally make the same predictions, and the same mistakes.
For instance, how many college annuals last year automatically named such busts as Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State and USC among their top 25? And how many pro annuals had Baltimore making the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl?
We’re not taking shots at anyone for being wrong, just reminding bettors that reading between the lines and looking for gaps in conventional wisdom can be rewarding. Information, not opinions, is the Holy Grail.
Basically, there are three types of annuals: those that target sports fans, those that target bettors, and those that cater to fantasy football players. We’ll take a brief look at three popular magazines that just hit the stands.
Marc Lawrence’s Playbook is a perennial that services bettors. It is a motherlode of trends, angles and relevant stats. Each pro team gets a two-page spread, and college teams are covered on one page.
Unlike the fan magazines, Lawrence’s history of previous results indicates not just the score, but the line and o/u, so readers can gauge ATS capability.
There is a four-year statistical review of every team, which gives such key info as returning starters for college teams and offensive and defensive yard averages for all teams.
A stat log for last year details team performances against year’s opponents.
Surprisingly, in addition to house ads for its own service, the pub contains ads for competitors as well.
Playbook is a solid compilation of data specifically geared for bettors. It also includes informative editorial features in its Handicappers Corner, and is a valuable resource for many bettors.
Athlon Sports Football, National Edition provides rankings and analyses of all 117 Division 1-A college teams.
In a departure from the standard coverage of teams which groups them by conference, Athlon lists teams in order of their national ranking, starting with the Florida Gators and winding up with the Troy State Trojans.
It could be awkward, looking for a specific team, but an alphabetical listing with page numbers makes it easy to find any school.
Using a standard format, each team gets a full page of well written analysis that includes a depth chart.
The pub features slick production values including colorful, eye-pleasing layouts, high quality paper, a recruiting report, and some of the dullest photos of cheerleaders we’ve ever seen.
Sporting News College Football is crammed with informative data and knowledgeable writeups for all teams. Interestingly, it claims complete coverage of all 116 Division 1-A teams, one less than Athlon.
It compares favorably with any college football pub out there, but tries to justify a dubious format change.
The magazine “resolved to make more room for the big boys … at some expense to our previews of teams nearer the bottom of the scale,” advises the managing editor.
That translated into reduced coverage of teams not deemed to be among “the big boys”, such as Conference USA and the WAC.
Instead of spending more money for more pages, it arbitrarily cut back coverage of five conferences.
As a publisher ourselves, we understand decisions related to cutting costs. But pandering to the majority at the expense of a minority isn’t a mindset that we applaud.
But that’s a quibble. The pub stands on its own merits.
Correction. Boy, did we goof! In our June 18th column, we incorrectly referred to Mark Del Popolo as a Harvard lawyer. Mark went to Princeton.
Confusing a Princeton Tiger with a Harvard Crimson is inexcusable, since we are from Jersey. Our apologies, Mark.
Please send questions, comments, etc., to buzzdaly@aol.com, and visit our website at www.buzzdaly.com
Some Vegas Bet Shops Are Bucking Trend That Has Made Sports Betting Irrelevant
You are the weakest link, goodbye!
We’re referring not to a hapless game show contestant, but to the way sports betting in Las Vegas compares with the offshore industry.
The demise of what was once a monopolistic franchise – legal wagering on sports – and how it was frittered away by shortsighted bean counters has been well chronicled.
However, recently there have been small, but encouraging, signs that some casino managements in the desert are waking up to the fact that sportsbooks are more than simply an accommodation for hotel guests.
The Strip, with industrial-strength corporate knuckleheads running the show, hasn’t changed course. The consolidation that saw Caesars Palace and the Mirage come under new managements meant that no longer would their sportsbooks be bastions of low vig and aggressive bookmaking for savvy bettors.
The small scale Renaissance that is now taking place is centered in the locals-oriented joints, notably Coast Resorts and Station Casinos.
Coast, which has five properties, is running a 10-cent line in baseball and getting all the action it can handle.
Race and sportsbook director Bert Osborne says, “I’m getting all the baseball business in Las Vegas with a 10-cent line. Nobody in town writes more business than we do Monday through Friday. Not one property, unless they get one large player.”
On weekends, Osborne concedes that Coast can’t compete with the large Strip hotels that have up to 5,000 rooms and lots of pit players.
Recently, Coast returned to a 24-hour sportsbook schedule at three of its properties, introduced overnight betting and increased its limits to among the highest in the city.
Once again, it will cater to locals by offering a no-pointspread football contest which has large weekly payouts as well as a grand prize of over $100,000.
To complement its phone betting accounts, Coast is the first bet shop in town to offer betting by computer through its closed-loop wagering system. This system offers a bigger betting menu than the book’s telephone accounts.
Back in the ‘90s, the Barbary Coast offered a nickel line in baseball. That amenity is not slated to make a comeback.
Station Casinos offers a dime line in baseball and is raising its limits for football.
The company, which operates eight properties and nine sportsbooks including Barley’s in Henderson, recently hired Art Manteris to run its sportsbook operations.
Manteris previously was vice president in charge of race and sportsbooks at Hilton casinos. Although not popular with the town’s wiseguys, because he discourages their action, Manteris has strong administrative experience in running a large sportsbook.
Presumably, bringing him aboard with the requisite big salary indicates that Station properties will woo sports bettors even more vigorously than in the past.
First Crop of Football Pubs Is Out. If the NBA playoffs are over, you know it’s time for the first football preview magazines to start hitting the newsstands.
Every year it seems more annuals glut the newsstands, many of dubious value. However, they are a necessary resource for most bettors. Just bear in mind that they all generally make the same predictions, and the same mistakes.
For instance, how many college annuals last year automatically named such busts as Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State and USC among their top 25? And how many pro annuals had Baltimore making the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl?
We’re not taking shots at anyone for being wrong, just reminding bettors that reading between the lines and looking for gaps in conventional wisdom can be rewarding. Information, not opinions, is the Holy Grail.
Basically, there are three types of annuals: those that target sports fans, those that target bettors, and those that cater to fantasy football players. We’ll take a brief look at three popular magazines that just hit the stands.
Marc Lawrence’s Playbook is a perennial that services bettors. It is a motherlode of trends, angles and relevant stats. Each pro team gets a two-page spread, and college teams are covered on one page.
Unlike the fan magazines, Lawrence’s history of previous results indicates not just the score, but the line and o/u, so readers can gauge ATS capability.
There is a four-year statistical review of every team, which gives such key info as returning starters for college teams and offensive and defensive yard averages for all teams.
A stat log for last year details team performances against year’s opponents.
Surprisingly, in addition to house ads for its own service, the pub contains ads for competitors as well.
Playbook is a solid compilation of data specifically geared for bettors. It also includes informative editorial features in its Handicappers Corner, and is a valuable resource for many bettors.
Athlon Sports Football, National Edition provides rankings and analyses of all 117 Division 1-A college teams.
In a departure from the standard coverage of teams which groups them by conference, Athlon lists teams in order of their national ranking, starting with the Florida Gators and winding up with the Troy State Trojans.
It could be awkward, looking for a specific team, but an alphabetical listing with page numbers makes it easy to find any school.
Using a standard format, each team gets a full page of well written analysis that includes a depth chart.
The pub features slick production values including colorful, eye-pleasing layouts, high quality paper, a recruiting report, and some of the dullest photos of cheerleaders we’ve ever seen.
Sporting News College Football is crammed with informative data and knowledgeable writeups for all teams. Interestingly, it claims complete coverage of all 116 Division 1-A teams, one less than Athlon.
It compares favorably with any college football pub out there, but tries to justify a dubious format change.
The magazine “resolved to make more room for the big boys … at some expense to our previews of teams nearer the bottom of the scale,” advises the managing editor.
That translated into reduced coverage of teams not deemed to be among “the big boys”, such as Conference USA and the WAC.
Instead of spending more money for more pages, it arbitrarily cut back coverage of five conferences.
As a publisher ourselves, we understand decisions related to cutting costs. But pandering to the majority at the expense of a minority isn’t a mindset that we applaud.
But that’s a quibble. The pub stands on its own merits.
Correction. Boy, did we goof! In our June 18th column, we incorrectly referred to Mark Del Popolo as a Harvard lawyer. Mark went to Princeton.
Confusing a Princeton Tiger with a Harvard Crimson is inexcusable, since we are from Jersey. Our apologies, Mark.
Please send questions, comments, etc., to buzzdaly@aol.com, and visit our website at www.buzzdaly.com