Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Jeff Haney chronicles the betting world in 2006, from disappearing gamblers to the closing of the Stardust

They took it too literally

Professional gambler Alan Boston was physically attacked on the Strip in January by two assailants wielding a heavy object while he was on his way to participate in a sports handicapping contest. The name of the contest was "Beat Boston."

If my column suddenly disappears

A 46-year-old Wyoming man decided to head for the hills - literally - after losing a $40,000 bet on the Super Bowl. Marvin Hackworth of Gillette, Wyo., staged his own disappearance in the rugged Bighorn Mountains in north-central Wyoming the day after the Super Bowl, according to an Associated Press report. Hackworth told his wife he was leaving to "clear his head" after losing the bet. Search and rescue teams spent two days looking for Hackworth, who was later found in Nebraska. He had stashed a pickup truck in the mountains so he could "disappear for a while" in case he lost the bet, police said.

Brutal honesty

During a presentation on college basketball handicapping at the Riviera hotel-casino, the aforementioned Alan Boston was describing Fordham's home court, Rose Hill Gym. Boston characterized the Rams' gym as old, dingy and generally quite unpleasant - "kind of like the Riviera," he added, off-the-cuff.

Conditional honesty

A faulty slot machine that gave gamblers credit for 10 times the money they inserted cost Caesars Indiana in Elizabeth, Ind., nearly $500,000, according to a report in the Louisville Courier Journal. Gambler Kathryn Ford of Louisville informed a security guard after she inserted $160 and got credit for $1,600. Ford said she felt guilty, but also figured there were security cameras covering the whole room.

Headline writer couldn't see the Forrest

Poker pro Ted Forrest defeated Chris "Jesus" Ferguson in the final round of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesars Palace, prompting one of those ubiquitous poker Web sites to use this tasteful headline on its report on the event: "Forrest crucifies Jesus in heads-up tourney"

Where's Moneymaker?

A painting made its debut at an art show at Jack Gallery in Mandalay Bay portraying Mount Rushmore, but with the visages of poker legends Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar, Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan in place of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.

Ramble on, Rose

He later took heat for selling autographed baseballs with the inscription, "I'm Sorry I Bet on Baseball," but earlier Pete Rose told CNBC about his betting habits as manager of the Reds: "I didn't make a bet and go out and say, 'OK, guys, we got to win tonight, you know, because I'm betting on you' - because I bet on them every night." Rose also said in the interview: "I believe I'm baseball's best ambassador, and they want nothing to do with me. I mean, I'm in Las Vegas 15 days a month just holding babies, taking pictures with grandmas at the Field of Dreams store (in the Forum Shops), just talking positive about the game of baseball, and there's so many people talking negative about the game now because they're letting the game get away from them with this drug stuff "

Re-Pete performance?

During New York Mets third baseman David Wright's appearance on the "Late Show With David Letterman," Letterman produced a mock baseball card with this inscription on the back: "David relaxes by betting on baseball."

And 'Old Bull Lee' is really William Burroughs

"The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions," a book chronicling the exploits of a big sports betting syndicate, was published, but unfortunately it uses fake names for most of the principal characters. For example, the character supposedly representing Bill Walters is called "Big Daddy Matthews."

What, Chicanery? At Yonkers? Naaaaaah

When a renovated Yonkers Raceway reopened with slot machines, customer Anna Szanto told the New York Times why she got away from betting horses in favor of slots: " I used to come here to play the horses, but not for a long time," she told the Times. "I started going to Atlantic City instead. The slots are just a lot more fun to me. There's nothing wrong with horse racing, but I never seemed to win when I bet on it. I felt like I was getting cheated a lot because the drivers seemed to be pulling back on a lot of the horses."

Poker envy

Backgammon (by an online backgammon company), dominoes (by ESPN Deportes), darts (by ESPN), pingpong (by a Los Angeles PR firm), live blackjack (by various sources) and online blackjack (by Party Gaming) were all hyped as either "the new poker" or "the next poker."

Just not his thing

Golfer John Daly revealed in an autobiography that he lost between $50 million and $60 million gambling in the past 12 years, including $1.65 million in one five-hour Las Vegas binge. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem advised him to seek counseling, according to Golf Digest, but Daly's response was, "I'm not really into that."

UBT? Ugh

Believe it or not, tournament blackjack can be a fascinating and cerebral form of gambling. You wouldn't know it by watching the "Ultimate Blackjack Tour," which debuted on CBS (Cox cable channel 8). The disappointing UBT resorts to the trappings of a cheesy game show-cum-reality show, evidently aiming for a lowest common denominator, MTV2 kind of audience. Then again, there's no doubt I would also hate "Survivor," "Deal or No Deal," "The Simple Life" and "Dancing With the Stars" if I ever saw them, so I'm sure it's me who's out of touch with popular taste. (Proudly.)

A million for one

A ballot proposition in Arizona would have provided for a $1 million reward, lottery-style, to a random voter in the state as part of an effort to increase Election Day turnout. We're glad this ill-conceived initiative failed. We hate it when the fine institution of gambling gets mixed up with something as sleazy and slimy as the political process.

They're outta here

The Palms sports book offered a proposition on the Tour de France, pairing favorites Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich in a head-to-head betting matchup. Wagers were refunded when both were thrown out of the race in a doping scandal the day before the Tour began.

'Who cares?' was the correct answer, at odds of 3-1

An offshore sports book installed "Oprah" and "Good Morning America" as 2-1 co-favorites to become the first live TV program to show Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's baby. It's unclear which is more of an embarrassment to the art of bookmaking: that, or Nevada casinos hanging "for amusement only" odds on events such as the Academy Awards even though they're not permitted to accept real money on them.

R.I.P.

Louis Rukeyser and Robert Altman, two giants in their fields who were also enthusiastic gambling men, died after having lived extraordinary lives. Rukeyser, of "Wall Street Week" fame, loved to play blackjack at casinos around the world, although he complained about having to field an endless stream of "witty" remarks from his fellow players asking him if the odds in the casino were better than the odds on Wall Street. Altman, of course, directed "California Split," by far the greatest gambling movie of all time.

Stardust closes

One of the items auctioned at the Stardust after the historic hotel-casino closed was a light-up sign reading, "Sports Handicappers Library." Scotty Schettler, who ran the Stardust sports book in the '80s, recalled in an interview with the Sun how he started the library as part of an effort to cater to the whims of his rabid sports betting clientele. In those days, before personal computers and cell phones were everywhere, some sports book managers kept a suspicious eye on nearby banks of pay phones, watching for so-called "runners" calling their home base to share information about betting lines. Not Schettler. He stocked a utility closet with phones that gamblers could use to make free outgoing local calls. Likewise, he subscribed to a sports data service, cut out the sheets of statistics that came across the wire and hung them up in what became the handicappers library. "Most books would try to hide 'information,' whatever 'information' is," Schettler said. "We put it right out there for 'em! Guys loved it!" When Schettler left the Stardust in 1991, it marked the end of an era. "When I left, they obviously lived off the reputation of the Stardust sports book, which it really wasn't anymore," Schettler said. "Hey, good for them!"

What's next, pull tabs at parish Christmas bazaars?

The Catholic Bishop Deogracias Iniguez Jr. of the Caloocan diocese in the Philippines said it's not immoral to bet on big boxing matches such as the Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales fight that took place Nov. 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center. "Gambling can be a legitimate form of entertainment, so there's nothing wrong with betting on this fight," Iniguez told The Star of the Philippines. Although Pacquiao won the fight, it would have been acceptable for members of his flock to bet on Morales and against the Filipino hero, according to the bishop. "I don't think it should be linked to patriotism," he said.

And we bid you good night

There was plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth in the wake of the congressional legislation designed to crack down on online gambling. Much of it was exaggerated and overwrought sentiment about "our right to play poker" being violated. (Admittedly, some of it came from me.) But the award for the most creative and impassioned response goes to "Pauly," the author of the popular blog "Tao of Poker," who wrote a lengthy treatise comparing his feelings on the new law to the "devastation" he and other Grateful Dead fans felt after the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia. "I saw what happened to the hippie subculture in a post-death Jerry Garcia world and that's the closest comparison that I can come up with " he concluded, before sounding a defiant note: "Ever go to one of those huge suburban parties in high school and the entire place is jumping and you're about to declare the festivities were epic enough to be awarded Party of the Year and then the cops come and bust it up? Mostly everyone leaves and goes home, but a few diehards stay around and drink the rest of the keg. I'm gonna be one of those guys."

No ordinary Joe

After young Las Vegas poker pro Joe Bartholdi won the $3.76 million top prize at the World Poker Tour Championship at the Bellagio and his picture appeared in the paper, an alert Sun reader called to point out the skinny and scruffy Bartholdi's remarkable resemblance to an early Bruce Springsteen, circa "The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle."

B eer and loathing

Milwaukee's Best Light sponsored a special, single-table poker tournament at the World Series of Poker at the Rio for players who got knocked out of the main event "on the bubble," or just barely out of the money. First prize was an entry into next year's World Series and a year's supply of Milwaukee's Best Light. There was no truth to the rumor that second prize was a tournament entry and two years' supply of Milwaukee's Best Light.

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