Columnist Jeff Haney: Mario returns with flair; Hill exits quietly

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

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

For some hockey bettors, Mario Lemieux's comeback was nothing short of magnifique.

Meanwhile, Grant Hill made about as much of an impact as Julia "Butterfly" Hill did on the NBA futures book.

Very little.

Hill, the five-time all-star who signed a seven-year, $94 million contract with the Orlando Magic during the off-season, said last week that he would miss the rest of the season due to a broken bone in his left ankle.

The 6-foot-8 forward had played only four games this season because of the injury.

With the official announcement, any serious NBA title talk for Orlando -- which also had added versatile young gun Tracy McGrady to its roster -- appeared to end with a whimper.

According to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which provides odds to most of the sports books in Nevada and around the world, the price on the Magic already reflected Hill's trouble-filled season.

LVSC had been sending out the Magic at 25-1 to win the title, and left it up to individual sports books to adjust their prices when the news on Hill broke.

MGM-MIRAGE did a nice job raising the price on Orlando to 32-1 (it had been 22-1 at those properties).

But if you decide you still like the Magic, be sure to shop around. For instance, Binion's Horseshoe -- apparently indicating it has no need for any more Orlando money -- has the Magic at 5-1.

The Lakers are favored to repeat as NBA champions, with LVSC sending them out at 3-2.

In contrast, Lemieux's return to the Penguins made a big splash in hockey futures land. Formerly in the 17-1 range, the Pens are now 8-1 at Arizona Charlie's, 10-1 at the Regent, and 12-1 at MGM-MIRAGE.

Rather than changing the odds "on air" -- or in anticipation of wagers -- Las Vegas Club sports book director Jonathan Jester opted to wait until Penguins money actually showed up at the window.

He didn't have to wait long.

Just after Lemieux said he would rejoin the Pens -- but before his first game last Wednesday -- a bettor wagered $500 at 15-1 odds on Pittsburgh to win the Stanley Cup at the Las Vegas Club.

"Once I took that nickel ($500), I dropped them down to 9-1," Jester said. "But (the change in odds) was definitely because of a bet."

Jester said he tries to model his style on that of Mel Exber, famed oddsmaker and former Las Vegas Club sports book director.

"I worked for Mel for years, and he was a legend," Jester said. "With Mel, it was don't change the numbers until you see ... not the whites of their eyes, but the green of their money."

Miami money continued to pour in even when the line reached 7 Tuesday, prompting Las Vegas sports books to adjust the money line on the game. By kickoff, most books had Miami minus 7, minus 120 or minus 130. The takeback on Florida was plus 7, even money -- and in some spots as high as plus 7, plus 110.

Some of the major offshore books moved the line to 7 1/2, though local books were loath to get off the key number of 7.

Miami covered handily in its 37-20 victory. ...

Heading into tonight's Orange Bowl clash between Oklahoma and Florida State, underdogs carry a record of 15 wins and 9 losses against the spread in this season's bowl games. ...

Teams from the Big Ten went 0-6 against the spread in bowls; perhaps the lowlight was Northwestern's drubbing at the hands of Nebraska in Saturday's Alamo Bowl. ...

Schools from Texas were 0-5 against the spread; however, Texas A&M's loss to Mississippi State in the snow in Sunday's wild and crazy Independence Bowl was really anybody's ballgame and seemed destined to end in some sort of fluke play. (It did.) ...

Sports analyst Wayne Root (esportse.com) finished with an 8-8 record in the 16 bowl predictions he gave out in this space over the past two weeks. Root, who calls Malibu, Calif., home but plans to relocate to Las Vegas in 2001, started out at a 7-3 clip but could not maintain the hot pace in the later bowls.

But pro football handicapper Tobin Hensgen does project the Titans to win it all -- and he does think the Ravens will give them all they can handle as 6-point underdogs.

"Tennessee is No. 1 in my power ratings, but I see their biggest challenge coming from Baltimore," said Hensgen (www.thegame-nfl.com), who has an MBA in telecommunications and uses computer databases extensively in his analysis. "When you watch Baltimore's line play, you see players up and down both the offensive and defensive lines who are looking for the ball, not for sacks.

"That's a more effective approach than you see on some other teams, where (defensive) players are out to get the quarterback (and are) more concerned with individual stats than team results."

Among the favorites are Vikings-Titans (5-2), Giants-Titans (3-1), Vikings-Raiders (9-2), Giants-Raiders (6-1) and Vikings-Ravens (8-1).

Among the long shots are Saints-Dolphins (150-1), Eagles-Dolphins (125-1), Eagles-Ravens (40-1) and Saints-Ravens (40-1).