Gaming Today
The books are already eager for
the 2005-06 NFL season to begin, figuring they weathered a potential disaster.
"The Patriots made
everything right in the Super Bowl," said Leroy’s spokesman Jimmy
Vaccaro. "The fact that the books took a hit for three weeks in November
makes for great copy, but if the books just keep writing tickets it works out
well in the end."
Black Sunday came during the
middle of a three-week run in November when road favorites covered nearly 65
percent, with both wiseguys and regular players wagering against the underdogs.
"Most of the general public
tend to bet favorites," said Mike Kostich, supervisor of race and sports at
the Rampart in Summerlin. "We didn’t feel the losses as badly as some of
the books on the Strip, but there’s no question that the Super Bowl was a big
winner for the house and made things equal."
Many sports books at neighborhood
casinos were facing their "worst football season" ever, until the
Super Bowl rejuvenated their bottom line.
The Super Bowl handle set a new
record at $90.7 million, up from last year’s $81.2 million. The amount Nevada
books won, $15.4 million (17 percent of the handle), also set a new record, up
from last year’s win of $12.4 million.
"What happened this past
year with the books losing so much early was an aberration," Vaccaro said.
"Normally, wiseguys and regular bettors don’t side together, but
favorites did very well most of the season. It usually happens once every seven
years or so when there is such a run of favorites. The books can handle
underdogs going on a run, but when favorites do it that’s trouble."
Kostich agreed, citing that
parity in the NFL had much to do with the change in trend away from underdogs.
"It’s fair to say that
parity is why books lost so early," he said. "The lines were off the
first three weeks and the bettors saw that a few teams were doing well covering
as favorites and they stuck with them."
Vaccaro noted that college
football was a separate deal from the NFL and not affected by this past year’s
pro trend.
"Leroy’s did well in
college football as a whole because so many underdogs wound up covering,"
he said. "The Super Bowl result made everything well. I don’t see the
same thing happening this year. The favorites won’t cover as much, in my
opinion."
