Columnist Jeff Haney: It’s a major upset: Stardust is rooting for the Lakers

Wednesday, June 2, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.

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

EVEN MONEY: Odds of 1-1. Example: A $100 wager would win $100, plus the original stake, for a total payout of $200.

EXPOSURE: Any financial liability a bookmaker has on a game or event.

FREEROLL: A type of wager in which you can win or break even but not lose.

FUTURE BOOK: The list of odds to win an upcoming event, such as the championship game in a particular sport. Example: "Super Bowl future book."

HANDLE: The total amount of wagers accepted.

SHARP: A sophisticated, informed sports bettor.

Fezzik, a Las Vegas-based professional gambler (one name only, please), posts picks and betting information at lvasports.com.

For once, the boss of a big Las Vegas sports book is cheering for the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Believe it or not, we'll actually do OK if the Lakers win it," said Bob Scucci, the sports book director at the Stardust. "I'd say that's the team we're rooting for."

Scucci is speaking not as a fan, but as the guy in charge of monitoring the NBA championship future book -- bets made throughout the season on particular teams to win the NBA title -- at the Stardust.

Usually sports book managers find themselves pulling for the Lakers to lose, or at least fail to cover the point spread, as the betting public loves to back the Lakers at the windows. This trend is especially evident at Las Vegas betting shops, given the city's proximity to Southern California.

It's a different story this year at the Stardust, Scucci said.

Because the Lakers were such heavy favorites to win the NBA title since the season began, bettors shied away from L.A. and placed their money on other teams with more attractive prices in the future book, Scucci said.

As a result, the Stardust has some financial liability -- or "exposure," as it's sometimes called in the sports betting business -- on the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons.

"People (bettors) got the Pistons (to win the championship) at 15-1, 20-1, even late in the season," Scucci said. "They were even taking them at 7-1 going into the playoffs. ...

"The Pistons (winning the championship) would not be a good outcome for us."

Odds on the Lakers to win the NBA title weren't much higher than even money the entire season in Las Vegas sports books. Odds on the Pacers -- who were eliminated Tuesday night -- generally ranged from 18-1 to 8-1.

Scucci said the Lakers' addition of Gary Payton and Karl Malone last summer to an already stellar roster that included Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant made the team a monster favorite to win the NBA title.

"The Western Conference looked so dominant that it was almost a foregone conclusion a team from the West would win," Scucci said. "When the Lakers made the key acquisitions of Payton and Malone, we lowered their odds, and just kept them at short odds all year."

Down the Strip at the Mirage, the NBA future book has played out closer to form, sports book director Robert Walker said.

"We have tremendous liability on the Lakers," Walker said, "but that's our only exposure."

The book stands to do well if the Pistons prevail, he said.

Walker said he would raise the odds on the Lakers this season when injuries or a clashing of egos created doubts about the team's chances -- only to lower them again when more L.A. money showed up at the betting windows.

"It reminded me of the Bulls when they were making their run in the '90s," winning six NBA titles in eight years, Walker said. "No matter what we did, people would bet them."

Walker stopped short of saying he was rooting against Los Angeles, because the Lakers' presence in the NBA Finals is guaranteed to generate a buzz -- and therefore good betting action -- on the series.

"The ideal situation for us would be if the Finals went seven games, and the Lakers lost," Walker said. "If it went to a Game 7, then maybe we'd root against them."

The Imperial Palace had only a mild rooting interest among the NBA's four semifinalists, and it was against the Pacers. The IP had a "smallish amount" of future book liability on Indiana, sports book supervisor Gary Ferrero said.

Otherwise, "we stand to make a good amount of money all the way around," Ferrero said.

The Lakers eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 4 games to 2, Monday night in the Western Conference final. The Pistons knocked out the Pacers, 4 games to 2, Tuesday night in the East.

Last year, gamblers bet $489 million on basketball, college and pro, in Nevada sports books, according to the state Gaming Control Board. That's 27 percent of the $1.8 billion bet on sports overall in the state. The figures are not broken down further, or by individual casino.

De La Hoya-Hopkins

Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins are heavily favored in fights against separate opponents Saturday at the MGM Grand. De La Hoya is minus 1500 against Felix Sturm, and Hopkins is minus 1300 against Robert Allen, according to odds at the Mirage.

Saturday's card is expected to set the stage for a Sept. 18 bout between De La Hoya and Hopkins, a blockbuster that could rival the epic Philo Beddoe vs. Jack Wilson in betting handle.

Las Vegas casinos are already taking bets on a De La Hoya-Hopkins matchup, and early money has come in on the favored Hopkins:

-- At Caesars Palace and related properties, Hopkins has been bet up to a minus 180 favorite after opening at minus 150. De La Hoya is a plus 150 underdog.

-- Hopkins is also minus 180 at Station Casinos; De La Hoya is plus 150.

-- At the Palms, Hopkins is up to minus 185; De La Hoya is plus 165.

Smarty props

Wagering propositions involving the precocious 3-year-old Smarty Jones have been up in Las Vegas race books throughout the Triple Crown season.

Due to the state's regulations, however, local books cannot duplicate one creative prop available offshore at World Wide Tele-Sports. WWTS, which is based in Antigua and trades on the Australian Stock Exchange, has posted an over/under of $100,000 on the stud fee for Smarty Jones' first crop of foals if he wins the Triple Crown.

"That is not a horse racing event," said Keith Copher, the Gaming Control Board's chief of enforcement. The rules stipulate that wagering in Nevada books must be on sporting or racing events, he said.

By comparison, the stud fee for Smarty Jones' sire, Elusive Quality, was $50,000 for the 2004 breeding season but is expected to rise after Smarty's success, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

The latest price on Smarty Jones to win Saturday's Belmont Stakes and complete the Triple Crown is minus 300, and it's plus 230 that he will not win the race, according to odds at Station Casinos.

Baseball freeroll

One month remains in a free baseball betting contest at the Fiesta Rancho, Barley's, the Wildfire and Wild Wild West. Entrants can register any time to pick 15 baseball games each week and compete for a $500 prize.