Columnist Jeff Haney: Find money lines on big college hoops games

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001 | 11:40 a.m.

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

Guess it's only appropriate that a guy with the word "Betting" attached to his weekly article should become a de facto Shell Answer Man for all kinds of gambling-related queries.

Some are out of left field: "I'd like you to analyze my baccarat betting system, which you'll find encoded in these Excel spreadsheets ..."

With others, etiquette dictates the real answer be kept under wraps: "Where is the best single-deck blackjack game being dealt?"

But a few stand out as excellent questions. One reader asked, "Which Las Vegas sports books offer money lines on college basketball games?"

The answer is that many casinos offer money lines on college baskets, but only on a very select number of games -- usually big televised matchups.

It's not like pro or college football, in which a majority of games carry money lines.

Take Tuesday's card, for example. Of 21 college basketball games on the board, three had money lines attached in Las Vegas sports books: Notre Dame-Indiana, Kansas-Wake Forest and Utah-Arizona State.

And not every book had a money line on all three of those games. In fact, some major sports books offered no money lines at all.

Things could change as the season progresses, but in the early going, among the best bets for money line seekers are: Mirage properties, Coast properties, the Palms, Imperial Palace, Cal Neva and Mandalay Bay. (This is not necessarily all-inclusive.)

Be aware that in college basketball, as in other sports, matching a money line to a point spread is not an exact science. For instance, 8 points in a game with an over/under of 118 figure to be worth more than those "same" 8 points in a game with an over/under of 189.

Global Sports and Entertainment, which went public July 12, is the only publicly traded sports handicapping company in the U.S. Global Sports and Entertainment trades under the symbol GWIN on the NASDAQ Bulletin Board. It was trading at 60 cents a share today. Playboy Enterprises (PLA on the New York Stock Exchange) was at $15.50.

"We are currently right on track to hit our fourth-quarter projections of over $2 million in quarterly revenues," said Root, a veteran sports analyst and sometime motivational speaker.

Root said his company has three goals for 2002.

"First, increase revenues dramatically yet again," he said. "Second, expand globally to provide handicapping advice in multiple languages for soccer and other popular global sports. Third, move up to NASDAQ Small Cap. We believe each of these goals is within reach next year."

That has not stopped a couple of Las Vegas sports books from taking betting action on the eagerly anticipated bout.

Station Casinos opened Lewis a minus 200 favorite, with a takeback of plus 160 on Tyson.

Caesars Palace made the line a bit closer, posting Lewis at minus 180 and Tyson at plus 140.

At both properties, the fight must take place by Dec. 31, 2002, for action.

Lewis (39-2, 30 KOs) is coming off a victory over Hasim Rahman in which he was a favorite of about 3-1.

Tyson (49-3-0-1, 43 KOs) is scheduled to fight Ray Mercer in a tune-up bout on Jan. 19 in Atlantic City.

Prizes worth $212,000 will be on the line Jan. 25-26 in the third Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at the MGM Grand. Nearly 200 horseplayers are expected to compete in the event, which has been likened to a U.S. Open for thoroughbred racing bettors. ...

Here's how this voter's decidedly non-trendy Heisman Trophy ballot went:

1. Rex Grossman, Florida. It was his to lose going into Saturday's game against Tennessee, a tough opponent that was getting no respect in the betting line. And the Vols' victory over Florida came despite Grossman's performance, not because of it.

2. Eric Crouch, Nebraska.

3. Ken Dorsey, Miami.

Orkin, creator of "The Optimizer" handicapping software, advances to the third round of the $10,000 winner-take-all single-elimination tournament.

At 9 p.m. Friday in the Stardust race and sports book, Bert Osborne of Coast Resorts faces Stephen Nover of Gaming Today and The Prescription website (theprescription.com).