Fans, books geared up for World Cup

Steve Carp

Wednesday, June 10, 1998 | 11 a.m.

THINGS WERE relatively quiet at the Crown and Anchor Pub on East Tropicana Avenue. It was a normal afternoon with a few patrons at the bar sipping various lagers from across the pond.

There was just as much serenity in the sports books Tuesday afternoon. The daily baseball schedule wasn't due to kick in until 4. It was a good time to catch up on one's reading -- on either side of the counter.

But all of that will change today. For the next month, activity will be brisk in many pubs and taverns around town as well as in the books.

The World Cup is back.

It seems like yesterday that the United States played host to the planet's biggest sporting event with singing, chanting fans rooting on their favorite side, and those with wagers imploring their team to move forward and attack.

But the Cup has returned, this time to France, where the quadrennial is being celebrated with labor strikes, inflated prices and the stench of allegedly fixed matches in that nation's pro league.

Here in Las Vegas, there will be varying degrees of interest. For the first time, all matches will be televised on English-speaking television with ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 delivering the broadcasts. For those who speak Spanish, Univision's coverage also will be available.

That fact should boost interest at the betting windows.

"I wouldn't be surprised if our handle was better than last time," Richie Baccallieri, the sports book manager at Caesars Palace, said. "The interest is very good for this tournament and the popularity of sports betting has grown overall. Soccer's just another part of that growth."

Nobody can say for certain how much will be wagered on this year's World Cup. The Nevada Gaming Control Board does not keep track of individual sporting events other than the Super Bowl, and the individual casinos do not release figures on their handle.

But it's safe to say several million will be wagered on the 64 scheduled matches.

As for the betting itself, Brazil is the favorite in most future books at 2-1 or 5-2. Germany and Italy are next at 5-1. The United States is 75-1, though the Americans are as high as 100-1 in some establishments.

According to Baccallieri, the hot teams are Argentina and Norway. Argentina opened at 18-1 and is now 7-1. The Norwegians opened at 70-1 and have been bet down to 40-1.

Soccer also provides for a different kind of betting. Instead of taking one side or the other, you can bet the game will end in a tie.

"We're getting a lot of good three-way action on most of the games," Baccallieri said. "The France-South Africa and Austria-Cameroon games are very even."

But the games that figure to draw the most interest in town will involve England, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Brazil and of course, the U.S.

At the Crown and Anchor, things figure to be hopping on Monday. That's when England meets Tunisia in an opening-round match and the Americans square off against Germany.

"Whenever there's soccer on TV, we show it," Crown and Anchor owner Ron Schultz said. "But this is special. We're going to be World Cup headquarters."

Schultz said fans from other countries show up at his place, even if the atmosphere and decor is British.

"We get a real international crowd in here," he said. "Once we had a game on from Czechoslovakia, or what used to be Czechoslovakia, and a lot of Czech fans came here to watch. So it won't just be England and Scotland. You'll see a lot of different countries' fans in here."

But it remains to be seen if the interest level rivals that of 1994 when the matches were played on American soil and Las Vegas was on the itinerary of thousands of fans who attended the World Cup.

"I think what happened in '94 will help this World Cup," Caesars' Baccallieri said. "There's a lot more information out there and with every game shown on TV, that will provide more exposure.

"I expect us to be very busy the next month."