Sports-betting analyst, author Lee dies

Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 | 8:56 a.m.

Just like every good sports handicapper, Mike Lee knew how to analyze the numbers. But in a career that spanned four decades, he also never forgot the human element that plays a factor in which teams beat the point spread.

"Mike knew things about let-downs and bounce-backs -- how teams reformed themselves from week to week," said Howard Schwartz of the Gamblers Book Shop, which published two of Lee's three popular sports betting books. "A lot of his theories have been adopted by other authors of books on baseball, basketball and football betting."

Stephen Michael "Mike" Lee, who won several major football handicapping contests and often appeared on radio and television talk shows as an expert on sports betting, died Wednesday of complications from a stroke. He was 55.

Services are pending for the Las Vegas resident of 15 years.

"Mike would have been a success in any field he chose," said Las Vegas gambler Lem Banker. "He was one of those guys who could do a number of things, including write country music.

"But foremost, he was an honest guy, a man of integrity."

On Banker's advice, Lee stopped giving away his high percentage of winning picks that in the 1980s were regularly published in a local free weekly gaming newspaper and opened what became a successful sports service that sold betting lines to bookies and picks to gamblers nationwide.

Las Vegas gaming analyst Larry Grossman, who authored the "You Can Bet On It" books and hosts a local daily sports betting radio talk show, said Lee "was a standup guy" who "was intelligent and focused on statistics. While his style of handicapping was driven by the numbers it also was shaded by his knowledge of sports and the people who play the games."

In addition to talking about sports betting on Grossman's show, Lee often entertained listeners by doing impersonations of celebrities such as Burt Lancaster, George C. Scott and Billy Bob Thornton giving betting advice.

For seven seasons Lee appeared as a handicapper on a USA cable network show. For more than 20 years he published the Moneymaker tout sheet. At the time of his death he worked as handicapper for coversexperts.com.

Lee won the 1985 Castaways Ultimate Challenge football handicapping contest and the 1989 Hilton Superbook contest. In 2002 he finished second in the Stardust Invitational.

Lee's books today are out of print, but still are regarded as must-reads for emerging sports bettors, Schwartz said. They are "Basketball Handicapping," published in 1979; "Betting the Bases," published in 1981; and "Mind Betting" published in the 1980s.

"Basketball Handicapping" was introduced as a paper at a 1979 gaming conference at the old Dunes hotel and was subsequently published as a book by the Gamblers Book Shop. It sold several thousand copies, Schwartz said.

"Betting the Bases" is considered one of the first books to help gamblers interpret betting the money line. It also warned about overplaying favorites and stressed good record-keeping, Schwartz said.

"Mind Betting," published by the Gamblers Book Shop, was considered a premier book of its time on football handicapping. It examined the psychology of the game, including motivational factors of teams and why they have let-downs. It sold for $50, Schwartz said.

Born June 10, 1949, in Atlanta, Lee became interested in sports betting as a teen, said his companion of 15 years, longtime Las Vegas sports writer Lynda Collins, who today writes for Internet services and magazines.

In addition to Collins, Lee is survived by a son, Steve Lee of Atlanta; a daughter, Jennifer Collins of Las Vegas; a grandson, Brendan Lee; and two granddaughters, Lauren Lee and Alexis Brown.