Some bettors felt duped after Holyfield-Lewis draw

Ed Koch and Ron Kantowski

Thursday, March 18, 1999 | 10:21 a.m.

As if watching Lennox Lewis batter Evander Holyfield to a controversial 12-round draw in their heavyweight unification fight Saturday night in New York wasn't bad enough, some bettors in Las Vegas and worldwide saw their money go down for the count.

Bettors who made proposition wagers in Las Vegas that included "draw" as one of the options lost their money unless they bet that the world heavyweight title unification fight Saturday at Madison Square Garden would end that way.

Others who made straight bets on Holyfield or Lewis didn't get the same break on the odds as those who wagered on the prop bets. But they did get their money refunded.

Meanwhile, off-shore betting in the Caribbean and other locations was done in a soccer-structured manner, where the draw was offered as a choice. Bettors who wagered on either fighter lost, giving a windfall to those bookmakers.

Some bettors didn't know the difference between straight bets and prop bets and the whole incident to them was, like the fight, a sham.

"I've heard that several Las Vegas books have refused to give refunds to people who bet either fighter -- they claim they offered a three-way bet (of) Lewis, Holyfield or the draw," according to one e-mail that was sent to the Sun.

The writer names the Stardust as one of those books. Not so, says that Strip resort's race and sports book boss.

"They got their money refunded unless they bet the draw and we paid that off," said Joe Lupo, director of the Stardust sports book.

"However, we had a five-way prop (Lewis by decision, Lewis by knockout, Holyfield by decision, Holyfield by knockout or draw). There you had to bet the draw to win (and no money was refunded on the other four choices)."

Lupo said at 30-to-1, his resort got a "lot of bets" ranging from $10 to $50, but nothing larger, on the draw.

"I don't think they bet it (a draw) because they thought the fight would end in a draw," Lupo said. "They just felt that 30-to-1 odds was worth a small wager."

At Palace Station, Race and Sports Book Director Rob Terry said most of the money was on Holyfield. That book did not offer a prop bet on the draw.

As for holding all money until there is an investigation into allegations the fight was tainted, Terry said that's not the way the books do business.

"The decision that day (on which the event is held) is final," he said.

In auto racing, for instance, bets are paid off on that day's results. As an example, Mike Skinner this past weekend appeared to have won a NASCAR Busch Series race. The next day, however, he was disqualified for using an illegal engine.

Terry said that had the Station booked that race, it would have paid the Skinner bettors.