Jeff Haney on the highly unlikely possibility that a Las Vegas sports book might deal a double line

Monday, March 26, 2007 | 7:20 a.m.

This is a story of a bizarre coincidence that occurred in a Las Vegas sports book over the weekend.

After spotting an over/under in an NBA game I liked, I walked up to the counter to bet it.

As always, the first thing I did was confirm the number I wanted - 189 points - was still being offered by the casino. Oftentimes the number on the betting board - whether it's an old-fashioned handwritten board or an electronic display - bears no relation to the actual current line. The number in the casino's computer system is the only one that matters, I've been told.

OK, no problem: 189 was still available, I was told. Great, I'd like to bet "over" 189.

OK, now there's a problem. After a delay of perhaps 30 seconds, I was told "over" 189 is no longer available, but I'm welcome to bet "over" 190. (Any avid sports bettor knows a full point in an NBA total represents a significant degree of difference.)

Another bettor barely beat me to the "over" 189, accounting for the line move, I was told. I looked around, and no one else in the sports book appeared to be betting basketball at the time. So I asked the ticket writer if a bettor at another, affiliated casino at a separate location made the wager. She looked me in the eye and said, "Yes."

I think I'm pretty good at figuring out odds, but I found it difficult to make a price on this: a mystery bettor making a wager large enough to move the line a full point on the total of NBA game that was still hours away at almost precisely the same time I was trying to place my bet - cutting it so close that the line move did not even register until after I had confirmed the number I wanted was still available.

Whew. I don't know, maybe a million to one?

Lest I come off as a crybaby, let me clarify a few items:

If oddsmakers at a particular sports book had accidentally posted a total of, say, 169 points on the game, I would have no problem with them refusing action on it, and even permanently barring any scoundrels who tried to take advantage by trying to bet the "over." That's an obvious "mistake line," an entirely different situation.

Of course, someone with a worldview much more sinister than my own might suspect there was no mystery bettor at the other location making the same, exact bet at almost the same, exact time.

That someone might speculate the casino was in essence dealing a double, or "two-way," line - offering customers the option of taking either "under" 189 or "over" 190, which would amount to a ripoff of the betting public.

A double line is something you might expect from a sleazy online betting operation, not from a casino in the best, most strictly regulated gaming jurisdiction in the world, the state of Nevada.

Of course, I know speculation doesn't apply here. After all, the person behind the counter told me that another bettor simply beat me to the number. By seconds. Maybe fractions of a second.

By the way, the total in the game did go "over." My sincere congratulations to that mystery bettor for cashing a winning ticket.

Hypothetically, though, if a casino was suspected of dealing a double line, that would warrant an investigation by state gaming law officials, right?

Hypothetically, a group of bettors detailing a series of such "coincidences" over the course of a year might be inspired to file a formal complaint to prompt such an investigation, right?

Alas, none of that applies here. This was just an amazing, one-in-a-million coincidence that occurred on a sunny afternoon in Las Vegas.

Right?