Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.
Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or [email protected].
Its unusual format almost required special dispensation from gaming regulators, but a new high-stakes 16-man football handicapping contest is scheduled to make its debut this weekend in Las Vegas.
The invitational, sponsored by Leroy's sports books, requires each of the 16 contestants to put up $2,500 of his own money in order to compete.
Leroy's will sweeten the pot with an additional $10,000 for a prize pool of $50,000. The winner of the single-elimination tournament will be awarded $40,000, with $10,000 going to the runner-up.
The invitational features a unique format -- hence the process of gaining approval from the state -- but it borrows elements from various Las Vegas handicapping contests, past and present.
Like the popular handicapping invitational hosted by the Stardust each football season, the Leroy's contest will pit two entrants head-to-head each week, with the winner advancing to the next round. Each contestant makes seven selections a week, choosing from the weekend's entire football betting board.
The Leroy's contest differs in that the contestants can vary the size of their plays, working from a mythical "bankroll," according to the strength of their opinion in a particular game. A contestant might wager a mythical $1,100 on one of his plays and a mythical $5,500 on another, for example. The winner of the round is determined by the size of the final "bankrolls."
A high-end football contest offered at the Stratosphere several years ago used a similar mythical-bankroll format, though that contest was open to the public rather than by invitation only.
Leroy's spokesman Jimmy Vaccaro, the creator of the new invitational, said he looked to other Las Vegas handicapping contests for inspiration and tried to borrow some of the better elements of each.
"I was certainly taking a cue from the great Stardust contest that has been going on for so many years," Vaccaro said. "That's a proven format, but I thought that making everyone in the field put up their own money would add another layer of excitement.
"It was a whole new concept, so we needed approval from gaming (officials), and we just got it."
In the opening round, set for 8 p.m. Friday at the Riviera hotel-casino, local professional bettor Fezzik will face Steve Makinen of sports information Web site statfox.com.
In Round 2 the following Friday, professional gambler Ron Boyles is scheduled to face handicapper Doc Moseman of Doc's Sports.
Other contestants in the field are Lee Sterling, Jeff Whitelaw, Bryan Leonard, Alf Musketa, Richard Witt, Tony Salinas, Buzz Daly, Gary Green, Nick Bogdanovich, Jorge Gonzalez, "Chicago Pete," and "Krackman."
College lineup
A big swing in the point spread of Saturday's Michigan State-Hawaii game had some bettors mystified early this week.
Michigan opened as a 24-point favorite at the Stardust on Sunday night but was quickly bet up to a 32-point favorite -- an unusually large move in a betting line.
"I'd like to take a mulligan on that game," Stardust sports book director Bob Scucci told John Kelly of the Stardust Line. "We put up a bad line."
The adjustment in the line was driven almost entirely by professional bettors, Scucci said.
By Tuesday, the point spread in the game was 32 to 34 points at Las Vegas sports books.
In most similar situations, bettors would lean toward taking the underdog with all those points after such a line move -- but this game might be the exception, according to several people attending a private meeting of football handicappers Tuesday. They pointed out:
1) The direction of shifts in the betting line in Hawaii's games in the past several years has been strikingly accurate in predicting which team goes on to cover the point spread in the game.
2) Hawaii will be a long way from home and relying on a new quarterback.
3) Michigan State will be fired up to exact revenge after losing to Hawaii as a 6 1/2-point favorite in their season finale a year ago -- a defeat that could have cost the Spartans a bowl bid.
A marquee matchup between Michigan and Notre Dame on Saturday also features a team -- the Wolverines -- out for revenge at home. Last year, Notre Dame upset Michigan 28-20 as a 12-point underdog.
Early money from bettors this week was on the Irish -- Michigan opened as an 8 1/2-point favorite at the Stardust and the line was bet down to 7. On an early summer line in Las Vegas, Michigan -- which has allowed more than 400 yards in its past five games dating to last season -- was favored by as high as 16 1/2 points.
Heisman Trophy
Southern Cal quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush are the top choices to win this year's Heisman Trophy, according to oddsmakers at Pinnacle Sports, based in Curacao. (Wagering on award winners is not permitted in Nevada.)
Leinart, last year's winner, is listed at plus-168 (win $1.68 for each $1 wagered) on Pinnacle's latest line (pinnaclesports.com), with Bush at plus-473. Texas quarterback Vince Young is the third selection at plus-534.
Golf odds
The United States team opened a minus-170 favorite (risk $1.70 to win $1) against the International team (plus-150) in the Presidents Cup, according to odds at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Scheduled to represent the U.S. in the event, Sept. 22-25 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Va., are: captain Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, David Toms, Kenny Perry, Chris DiMarco, Jim Furyk, Fred Funk, Stewart Cink, Davis Love III, Scott Verplank, Justin Leonard and Fred Couples.
The International team includes captain Gary Player, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Adam Scott, Angel Cabrera, Tim Clark, Michael Campbell, Stuart Appleby, Mike Weir, Nick O'Hern, Mark Hensby, Peter Lonard and Trevor Immelman.
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