Books rejoice as big ‘dogs lose their bite

Spencer Patterson

Monday, March 26, 2001 | 9:53 a.m.

Sports book managers throughout Southern Nevada breathed a collective sigh of relief over the weekend, as Gonzaga and Temple exited this year's NCAA Tournament.

Because Cinderella stories make for an interesting month of March for fans, they could have proven costly for the books in this, the first year casinos could accept future bets on the tournament during the regular season.

"Teams like that can give us some liability if they get to the Final Four," said Imperial Palace sports supervisor Dan Malak, whose book once had Temple at 300-1 and Gonzaga at 200-1 to win the tournament. "One of these years, maybe one of those underdogs will get through, but it's good that they always seem to get bumped at the Elite Eight."

In the past, a law preventing betting on Nevada's colleges kept books from posting futures on the tournament until the brackets were announced, or until UNLV and UNR were eliminated from the event. This year, however, that law was changed, opening the door for bettors to pick a champion as early as January.

In the absence of a true remaining "Cinderella," third-seeded Maryland heads into the Final Four as the team capable of rewarding its supporters with the biggest payday. The Terrapins opened anywhere from 10-1 to 25-1 to win the title, but are now down to 4-1 at the Stardust and 3-1 at the IP.

The Stardust has Duke as an even money favorite, with Arizona and Michigan State at 7-2 and 9-2, respectively.

"The cream rises to the top in this tournament," Doug Castaneda, race and sports book supervisor at the Stardust, said. "Pretty much everyone thought Duke would get there and Michigan State would get there, and a lot of people thought Arizona would be there also."

Duke is a five-point favorite at the Stardust in its semifinal matchup with Maryland -- the fourth meeting between the Atlantic Coast Conference rivals this season. This Saturday's other game, which opened with Michigan State a one-point favorite, is now a pick after some early betting on Arizona.

Once again, casinos will post a plethora of proposition betting options for the tournament's remaining three contests, with head-to-head point total matchups between star players an annual favorite.

The Imperial Palace also expects to match up the tournament with several other sporting events, possibly including English Premier League soccer and NBA games.

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