Columnist Jeff Haney: Author examines pivotal period in LV sports betting

Wednesday, March 21, 2001 | 9:56 a.m.

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

Just in time for the NCAA Tournament, "The Odds: One Season, Three Gamblers, and the Death of Their Las Vegas" hits bookstores this week.

Thoroughly reported and tightly written by New York-based author Chad Millman, "The Odds" tracks the fortunes of two professional bettors and one sports book over the course of a basketball season, culminating in last year's NCAA Tournament.

Millman, a frequent contributor to ESPN The Magazine, does a splendid job in telling the story from three perspectives: A veteran "wise guy" or professional gambler, a younger pro bettor trying to learn the ropes, and the oddsmaking crew at the Stardust, often called Las Vegas' "sports book of record."

As his ominous-sounding subtitle suggests, Millman also explores the idea that due to a number of factors -- offshore books, corporate ownership of casinos here ... the usual suspects -- Las Vegas might be past its prime as sports betting's capital.

While that lament sounds familiar to Las Vegans, it's a subtle concept to present to a mainstream audience. Yet Millman does so with alacrity.

We meet Las Vegas wise guys, frustrated with what they consider small limits on the Strip, forced to turn to offshore books; we watch local oddsmakers struggle to adjust as the islands' betting line becomes more influential.

How timely is this theme? Since the end of last year's tournament, at least one sports book manager featured in "The Odds" has fled Las Vegas to take a similar job with a major offshore establishment.

"As I followed the progress of the wise guys and bookmakers (while reporting the book), it became obvious to me that these offshore books are becoming much more of a threat," Millman said from his Manhattan home. "Wise guys discovered they can bet a lot more offshore, and those (offshore bookies) are willing to take bigger risks."

Although the offshore menace looms in the background, all of the action in "The Odds" takes place in Las Vegas.

One wise guy, with 20 years of experience as a pro gambler, consistently puts in the requisite time and hard work -- but never met a bankroll he didn't overbet. His inner voice doesn't whisper, "Discipline," but rather, "Bet eight more dimes."

The kid, on the other hand, handicaps according to his wits and instinct. Sometimes he pulls a game almost at random off an Internet newsletter; other times he says the heck with it and decides instead to get high and watch "Beverly Hills 90210."

"I wanted that contrast," Millman said. "One guy who knows what he's doing, who knows you can't just jump into it and think that knowing a lot about sports is enough to be successful. And another guy who's just getting into it and doesn't realize yet how difficult it is."

As with all great gambling stories, some of the book's best scenes are funny and horrifying at the same time.

Christmas Eve day, for instance, finds the usual bunch of regulars hanging out in the sports book -- even though there are no games to bet. Finally one of the supervisors makes copies of the page from the rotation that reads "No Games Scheduled" and places them on the counter. From force of habit, the regulars swarm to grab a sheet, "like it was food or something," as the bewildered supervisor put it.

"From the perspective of a guy writing a book, I think what really struck me was getting to know the wise guys as people," Millman said. "Before I started I pictured them as Damon Runyon characters who lived by the seat of their pants. But I learned they also have real lives, with concerns and problems like anybody else. They became more real to me."

A 260-page hardcover, "The Odds" retails for $26.

Take Connecticut's 101-29 win over Long Island in the first round of the tournament. UConn opened a 41-point favorite and was bet up to minus 50 before covering with room to spare. ...

Local handicapper Ken White bested nine opponents to capture the $10,000 winner-take-all prize in the Stardust Basketball Invitational Tournament. White finished with a record of 33-16-1 over the contest's nine weeks, capped by a 4-1 performance in the finals Friday to defeat runner-up Andy Iskoe of The Logical Approach.