Columnist Jeff Haney: New schedule rotation grabs share of market

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 1999 | 2:48 a.m.

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com

For the better part of two decades, the phrase "official Nevada rotation" had a precise meaning: It was the daily schedule of games issued to sports books by Jim Feist's National Sports Service.

Use of the rotation, including the wagering numbers assigned to each team, became so widespread in Nevada that it emerged as the industry standard.

Illegal out-of-town books often pirated the rotation, so bettors and bookies were on the same page everywhere from Fremont Street in Vegas to St. Mark's Place in Manhattan.

But this year, the official rotation has been shaken up.

Don Best Sports, the Las Vegas-based computerized line-service company, scored a major coup when several prominent Las Vegas sports books agreed to carry its rotation this year.

The Don Best International Schedule of Games is currently the rotation of choice at the Boyd Corporation properties (Stardust, Sam's Town, etc.), Mirage Resorts, Coast Resorts, Circus Circus, Excalibur, Luxor, Stratosphere, El Cortez and the Plaza.

"I'm real happy with the support we've received so far," said Dana Corbo, president and owner of Don Best Sports, long known as a powerhouse in the offshore sports-betting industry. "It's really the result of the fact that for seven to eight years we've built up a reputation as a reliable and accurate source of information among serious (gamblers) and sports books."

Corbo played up that reputation when he approached Las Vegas casinos with his idea this past spring.

"My plan was to investigate who would support us," Corbo said. "The Coast properties were with us from the beginning, and in April I let the other big properties know I was interested in them. In June, Stardust and Mirage said they would give us their support, and the rest followed."

Of course, Don Best's gain was a setback in terms of exposure for National Sports and Feist.

"It's never good when you lose any business," said Feist. "But we're not overly concerned. We've done our job effectively and efficiently for 17 years. We're proud of the job we do and will continue to do in Nevada's casinos.

"Some places felt, for whatever reason, they wanted to make a change. Well, God bless 'em."

A casual sports gambler might wonder what all the fuss is about. After all, to paraphrase legendary oddsmaker Spiro Agnew, "You've seen one schedule rotation, you've seen 'em all." Right?

Mark "Shark" Simons, operations manager for Don Best Sports, thinks that in this clash of the schedule-rotation titans, the little guy is indeed affected.

"Using the right rotation eliminates confusion," Simons said. "If he gives the wrong number, a bettor could think he's betting one game and actually get another. It's important that the average bettor is using the correct rotation."

* I KNOW YOU RYDER: Renowned for its history as well as its head games, the Ryder Cup golf series resumes Friday for the 33rd time since 1927. The U.S. team is listed as a minus 270 (minus 1/2) favorite, and the European team is plus 210 (plus 1/2) at The Resort at Summerlin sports book.

"We've had some small action on Europe, but the betting has been light so far," said Jeff Sherman, who sets golf odds for The Resort at Summerlin. "I think one reason is that it's been real quiet in the media this year as opposed to years past."

Europe won the last two Ryder renewals in 1997 and 1995, both times by a score of 14 1/2 to 13 1/2. This time around, it figures to be the U.S. in a walkover -- on paper, at least. To wit, the European squad has a whopping seven rookies while the U.S. has one: David Duval, the No. 2 player in the world.

"I think the people who are betting Europe are just taking a shot based on past results," Sherman said. "They figure the price is enticing for a team that has proved before that it can win."

Sherman, formerly of the Imperial Palace hotel-casino, is the man responsible for making The Resort at Summerlin a mecca for golf bettors. He recently posted odds on the 2000 Masters and was mildly surprised when the very first bet happened to be on a 150-1 shot named Jack Nicklaus.

* ANOTHER DOG DAY AFTERNOON: Jack Love, sports book director at The Resort at Summerlin, reports the house had a winning Saturday this past week as several heavy favorites lost straight-up in college football.

The gambling public took a particularly tough hit when Cincinnati stunned Wisconsin 17-12. "The Wisconsin game was a big win for us," Love said. "We opened Wisconsin a 26-point favorite and they went off at 28."

Other notable upsets were Arizona State (minus 26) losing to New Mexico State 35-7; Mississippi (minus 16 1/2) losing to Vanderbilt 37-34; and Texas Tech (minus 30) falling to North Texas 21-14.

"It was a good Saturday for us," Love said.

* STARDUST LUMINARIES: For the second time in two weeks, one contestant captured the entire $15,000 prize in the Stardust hotel-casino's free All-American Football Contest. Linda Walker went 16-1 in her selections this past week; in Week 1 John Harvey went 17-0.

In the Stardust Invitational Handicapping Tournament, radio talk-show host Papa Joe Chevalier went 4-3 to eliminate handicapper Jimmy Vaccaro (3-4) in Week 2. Also, TV sportscaster Ron Futrell (4-3) defeated handicapper Ken White (2-4-1) in a playoff match after they battled to a tie in Week 1.

This Friday night at the Stardust race and sports book, Russ Culver squares off against fellow sports handicapper Keith Glantz.