Jeff Haney on Vegas Sports Betting

[zengrifter]

August 13, 2007

Jeff Haney on an unfortunate trend
in sports betting on the Strip

I am not a beard.

Nor am I a "runner," another term used to describe someone who makes bets with other people's money in a sports book following the instructions of his boss, the head money-mover.

I am not a "wise guy" or a professional gambler. I am not a member of any betting team, partnership, syndicate or consortium, either.

I'm just an average guy working alone who believes (evidently with some justification) that sometimes my opinion on a sporting event is more informed than that of the oddsmaker or the betting marketplace, and who once in a while likes to back up that opinion with a wager.

That's why I wasn't surprised when, in the wake of the NBA betting scandal, commissioner David Stern suggested any tainted bets probably did not come through Las Vegas but were instead limited to the so-called "underworld," the vast illegal sports betting market.

I thought back to this past basketball season and a few instances where I, a run-of-the-mill individual bettor, had trouble persuading sports books to accept my money at the counter.

...more - http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sports/2007/aug/13/566655769.html

 

[zengrifter]

LVSUN | September 03, 2007

Jeff Haney tells why pro sports handicappers think
differently from fans and pundits who don't gamble

Professional sports handicappers don't deal in absolutes. They don't have the luxury.

If an NFL team is favored by a touchdown in a particular game, for example, fans and non-gambling pundits tend to chalk it up as a victory for the favorite even before the game is played. It's the "they're gonna kill 'em" syndrome.

Handicappers realize the underdog can expect to win outright about one in four times, however, and proceed accordingly.

It was all the more surprising, then, how vehement and nearly unanimous a panel of handicappers was in aiming vitriol at the New York Giants and their prospects this NFL season at a betting symposium last week at Red Rock Resort.

...more - http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2007/sep/03/566659951.html