Pro sports bettors meet in Vegas

A group of top sports bettors met recently in Las Vegas and the Sun ran an interesting interview with one of the participants. The interviewee wanted to keep a low profile for obvious reasons:

A tableau reminiscent of that classic exchange played out this weekend in a well-appointed conference room at a Strip resort, where a small group of sports bettors had gathered for a private meeting to network and exchange information on their trade.

One guest speaker, going by the pseudonym “Mr. X,” runs a major sports betting syndicate that wagers large sums of money through offshore sports books as well as in Las Vegas.

One thing that surprised me is the rate of return expected by pro sports bettors. I expected something more than 1% of total amount wagered, but this is what is reported:

Overall, Mr. X said, his syndicate “holds,” or wins, about 1 percent of the amount of money it puts into action. To put that in perspective, if you bet $1,000 a week for 17 weeks of a football season and had as much success as this group of high-level professional gamblers, you could expect to pocket a grand total of $170. This sports betting stuff truly is a game of inches.

Sure, 1 percent of a big fleet of new cars can be quite a nice score. But even that rate of return requires an enormous amount of work, according to Mr. X. His team completes much of the “heavy lifting” in analyzing the forthcoming football season by June, then relies on statistical models throughout the season itself.

Typically during football season, Tuesday is a big day for placing early wagers. But the action kicks into high gear Thursday through Sunday, when Mr. X sleeps about five hours a day and works the other 19 hours.

“Thursday and Friday, we’re betting all day every day,” Mr. X said. “That’s when we start doing a lot of ‘halves’ (first-half lines), which start coming up (on betting boards). Last year we were betting a lot of college totals on Fridays because there’s so much other stuff you can be doing Saturday morning. On Saturdays, you can really get money down, particularly if you have a network.”

I really enjoy interviews like this that give the reader a small window into the world of pro sports betting. I’m looking for a video interview along the same lines – if anyone knows of one please forward me the info. Thanks!

Happy March Madness everyone, I hope you’re all doing better with your picks than I am! Here is a quick update of the latest news from the sports betting world:

• New Jersey sues Federal Government, claims sports betting ban is unconstitutional – this is huge! If this suit is successful it could legalize sports betting for all U.S. citizens. We’ll continue to monitor this story very closely.
• New Vegas casino offers in game wagering – the new M Resort has immediately become the gold standard for sports betting in Vegas. “All the sports lines will originate here,” M Resorts Chairman Anthony Marnell III said during a recent interview. “It used to be the Stardust set the lines. Now, it’s us.”
• Delaware budget contains legalized sports betting – the budget proposal for Delaware contains provisions for a state sponsored sports betting “lottery”. It looks like the local media is supporting the bill and we may see this landmark legislation pass.
• NCAA kills March Madness wagering in Canadian casinos – another example of U.S. entities using their economic and political power to take away the sports betting freedoms of foreign citizens.
• President Obama smiles on online sports betting – Carter Randel writes, “Barack Obama showed he shares the people’s disregard for online gambling laws by appearing on ESPN to make his own bracket picks.” Randel continues, “The President has acknowledged enjoying playing poker, has shown visionary use of the Internet in his campaign, and now flirts with online sports gambling on natiuonal television.” This could point to a brighter future for online sports betting in the U.S. under the Obama administration. I’m hoping for the best.

I’m heading to a bachelor party in Vegas next week and have been looking high and low for a genuine Las Vegas Hotel Deal. My friends and I plan on doing quite a bit of sports betting and I’d like to find a Las Vegas Hotel that offers not just a good deal, but doesn’t treat sports bettors like second class citizens. Fortunately a friend of mine recently turned me on to the Sahara Vegas – a Vegas Hotel that knows how to take care of the avid sports fan. With dozens of TVs, complimentary drinks for players, and beautiful hostesses, you really can’t lose (even if your wager does!). The odds are provided by Leroy’s oddsmakers and the action starts about an hour before the first sports event of the day.

After years of online sports betting, I think it will be fun to get back to the offline version. There is nothing to compare to the cacophony of cheers, groans and gasps you hear when watching a sporting event where everyone in the room has some money on the line. If you are going to be in Sin City next weekend, come on by and say hello – we’ll be at the Sahara watching all the NBA action and would be happy to buy you a free beer!

Apparently John McCain and his staffers have a tradition of holding a March Madness pool. This is strange because McCain has been a steadfast supporter of keeping sports betting illegal in this country – going as far as trying to ban legal sports betting from Nevada casinos. I think this example shows both the increasingly pervasive nature of March Madness betting in this country and the hypocrisy of our elected officials on the issue of sports betting.

Props to Zeal For Truth, who provides a nice summary:

McCain is a big fan of college basketball (maybe he swayed the NCAA tournament committee to put in Arizona this year) – so much so that it is becoming an annual tradition for the Senator to sponsor a bracket competition on his site (last year’s included campaign gear to the winner). McCain even bets in an office pool with his staff – or at least did last year.

This is all wonderful and good. I would definitely say that sports betting is almost as American as apple pie.

Cue McCain, who declared that sports betting in legal Nevada Casinos “feeds illegal betting on campuses and on the Internet, leads to corruption of college athletes and sets students on the path to becoming problem gamblers.” Naturally of course, McCain has been a huge advocate of banning the practice of betting on college sports.

Anyone who enjoys sports betting and plans on voting in the upcoming election may want to keep in mind McCain’s precarious position on this important issue.