Columnist Jeff Haney: Avoid the late rush for football contests

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 10:01 a.m.

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

To avoid lines stretching from here to Tonopah, local residents should sign up now for the always-popular football contests offered by Las Vegas sports books.

As the season's opening kickoff nears, the crush at the counter becomes more intense -- especially for the free and low-entry fee contests available around town.

"I would advise people to register as soon as possible, because it's only going to get busier in here," said Ray Spaulding, sports book supervisor at the Stardust, which brings back its free "All-American" football contest this year.

The Stardust All-American, the city's most prominent free contest, will again award a $15,000 weekly prize to the entrant(s) who predict the most straight-up winners (no point spreads). Up to 17 games a week, college and pro, will be featured.

Spaulding reminded customers they can also sign up at any affiliated Boyd property, including Sam's Town, Fremont, California, Eldorado, Jokers Wild or Main Street Station.

Here's a roundup of this year's Las Vegas casino football contests, by category. ....

This year 12 handicappers will give out six picks apiece -- college or pro, sides or totals -- each Friday night.

"We have four new contestants, and it's going to be very interesting to see how they do in their first year of competition," said contest host Shaun Hess.

The four new handicappers are Brent Crow, Bob Donahue, Rob Veno and Tom Stryker, Hess said.

They join defending champ Russ Culver, Andy Iskoe, Brian Leonard, Tim Trushel, Scott Spreitzer, Glen McGrew, Bob Stoll and Mike Lee. A $5,000 prize and other bonuses are at stake.

Also back is the Stardust invitational, a single-elimination tournament featuring bettors, oddsmakers and celebrities in a head-to-head competition. Last year's event featured a $10,000 winner-take-all prize.

This season's full lineup has not been revealed yet, although it appears radio personality Papa Joe Chevalier will return to try to defend his title.

One newcomer to the Stardust invitational is famed blackjack author Stanford Wong, who is turning his attention to sports betting this year.

"I'm very competitive, and the idea of publicly matching my picks against those of someone else is exciting," Wong said. "It won't mean any extra preparation, because I will be handicapping NFL games for bets with my own money anyhow."

The Stratosphere's "World Handicapping Professional Football Contest" has a $1,000 entry fee and gives entrants a theoretical $100,000 bankroll from which they can wager $1,100 to $11,000 per game. First place takes 50 percent of the prize money, with a $200,000 prize pool guaranteed.

The second annual "Gridiron Growler" at Barley's casino is $200 to enter and features pro and college games against the spread. All entry fees go to prizes, with the winner taking 50 percent.

Bally's "The Eliminator" is $50 to enter. Contestants predict one game a week and advance only if their pick is correct. Last year's winner-take-all prize was more than $12,000.

Station Casinos' "Great Giveaway" and Coast Resorts' "Pick the Pros" each have a $25 entry fee. Contestants pick pro games straight-up and compete for weekly and season-long prizes. Each contest boasts more than $1.2 million in total prize money.

Sign up for the Great Giveaway at Palace, Boulder, Texas or Sunset Station, or the Wild Wild West; and for Pick the Pros at Barbary Coast, Gold Coast, the Orleans or the Plaza.

Veteran handicapper Marc Lawrence has no argument with that idea.

Lawrence is bemused to no end by the casual bettors who approach him, even at this time of year, asking who's going to win the Super Bowl.

"The only thing I can tell them is 'who cares?' " the Ohio-based Lawrence said during a visit to Las Vegas last week. "The last thing on my mind right now is which team is going to win on Super Bowl Sunday."

Lawrence noted that serious sports bettors look at the Super Bowl as one game, or one "play," in a season filled with hundreds, in many cases thousands, of plays.

The public takes the opposite outlook, viewing the Super Bowl as either a "get-even" game or a chance to parlay the season's winnings into one huge score.

"The people asking about it this time of year are the same ones you see packing the books for the Super Bowl," Lawrence said.

Lawrence, best known for his "Football Playbook" and "College and Pro Football Black Book," starts another season of his sports betting radio show Sept. 1. The program airs locally at 8 p.m. Fridays on KDWN 720-AM, unless there's a conflict with Dodgers baseball.