Print
E-mail
Share
delicious
digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Stumble
Technorati
reddit
Fark
twitterJEFF HANEY | ODDS ’N’ ENDS :
Time for something drastic?
If sports books insist on unethical behavior, maybe they should be forced to close shop
Thu, Oct 2, 2008 (2 a.m.)
After yet another appalling episode at a Las Vegas sports book, this one a Boyd Gaming joint, I’m ready to think the unthinkable.
State or federal lawmakers should consider doing away with legal sports betting in Nevada.
It would be a shame for Nevada sports books that conduct business in a professional and competent manner, as well as for sports gamblers.
But I’ve had it with unethical Las Vegas sports book operators and their shady dealings behind the counter.
Their cowardly actions, their lack of integrity and their irresponsibility reflect so poorly on the state’s biggest industry that it might be time to take such a drastic step.
I reached that conclusion this weekend, right about when my parlay-card betting slips were all but thrown back at me at the window.
Denied. Once again, I had to walk out of the casino having been thwarted in my attempt to make a bet on sports.
Forget for a moment how pathetic it is for a Las Vegas sports book to fear a couple of $100 parlay-card wagers.
Forget for a moment that the statewide casino “hold,” or win rate, on parlay cards for the 12-month period that ended July 31 was a staggering 32 percent. That’s higher than even the most horrific games on the casino floor — keno (26 percent casino hold rate) and Caribbean Stud (28 percent), according to the state Gaming Control Board.
The point is that the football games I had the nerve to actually try to gamble my money on were not off the betting board, nor had they been declared ineligible for parlay-card betting.
By rejecting my wagers after examining them, Boyd Gaming officials were giving themselves the undeserved luxury of accepting bets on one side of a football game while refusing wagers on the other side of the same game.
In other words, they were essentially dealing a “one-way” betting line, a clearly unethical move on the part of the bookmaker.
A one-way line is anathema to a properly run sports book.
It’s something you might expect to encounter from a dirty underworld bookie or in a banana republic rather than in Nevada, where sports betting takes place in a (supposedly) stringently regulated environment.
It’s also the same sort of chintzy stunt that prompted a Gaming Control Board investigation into the Harrah’s sports book this year (Las Vegas Sun, April 23).
Advocating a ban on legal sports betting carries some substantial implications to be sure.
I realize this position would align me with religious rightists such as Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a notion I find repulsive.
That’s how strongly I believe unethical sports book operations such as Boyd Gaming and Harrah’s must be cleaned up or cleaned out.
This weekend’s unfortunate incident came less than a week after we pointed out Boyd Gaming was running the most blatantly dishonest advertisement in recent Las Vegas memory, in which it touted its parlay cards as “the best parlay cards on the planet.” In fact, they’re about average.
This, of course, is an affront to anyone who cares about either the gambling industry or the English language. It’s also unfair to rival sports book operations that actually do offer strong parlay cards — and are willing to book the action when customers bet into them.
The viability of the Nevada gambling industry is based on the concept that casino patrons, whether they’re tourists or residents of the state, can expect to get a fair shake.
Without that presumption the entire enterprise, along with huge swathes of the state’s economy, would be in danger of collapsing into rubble like a Wall Street investment bank.
When casinos offer sports betting lines but give themselves the option of accepting action on one side of the wager while rejecting action on the other side, it can give customers the impression that the game is rigged against them.
And that impression would be correct.
My opinion of elected public officials places them slightly below Saturday morning scamdicapper slime on the human evolutionary scale, so I harbor no high hopes they’re capable of taking any meaningful action against unethical sports books.
Still, I wonder if there are any Nevada politicians who:
A) grasp at least the rudiments of sports betting and therefore understand why the conduct of Boyd Gaming is ethically reprehensible, and B) are not in the pocket of Big Gaming.
I fully realize the odds against that particular two-team parlay coming in are astronomical.
So it might be up to Washington politicians, who currently have their hands full with more pressing crises.
But eventually, those too shall pass.
It’s conceivable federal lawmakers would then take another run at abolishing sports betting in Nevada.
If nothing else, ponder the fearsome daily double that one of the major political parties has trotted out for our consideration. It features 1) a candidate at the top of the ticket who has been known to rattle his saber regarding outlawing legal sports betting in Nevada, and 2) a running mate with fundamentalist Christian beliefs.
If that doesn’t give sports gambling proponents pause, I don’t know what would.
As a guy who’s vociferously pro-gambling — when it’s done right, when casinos treat customers fairly — this is a painful conclusion for me to reach.
Yet as long as ethically challenged sports book operations such as Harrah’s and Boyd Gaming continue to tarnish the reputation of Nevada, it’s time to do the previously inconceivable.
Consider getting rid of legal sports betting in the state altogether.
Discussion: 6 comments so far…
Post a comment
Email Edition
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Kathy Griffin carted off Las Vegas stage
- Palin links resignation to ‘higher calling’
- Fireworks in place, ready for tonight’s big show
- Cards fly at World Series of Poker main event
- Metro arrests self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ in child sex case
- Fourth fireworks light up valley sky
- Holiday weekend: Steady visitors but lower spending
- Popular in their cities, could Reno or Las Vegas mayor be governor?
- Las Vegas to sizzle for the Fourth
- With success of Singapore campus, UNLV eyes United Arab Emirates
Blogs
Punchy Points: UFC 100
No. 8: The Ref: Dean relishes role, making right calls
The Bull's-Eye
Canadian is first in Desert Classic's final four, Barney joins him (UPDATED) (1 Comment)
Sports: Upon Further Review
July 4 at Wimbledon
The Kats Report
It's the fourth, it's the Phil, but it is not fireworks
Punchy Points: UFC 100
No. 7: Brave new world: UFC goes global (1 Comment)
Joe Brown
Kathy Griffin carted off Las Vegas stage (15 Comments)
The Kats Report
On the track, this Kwasniewski is making a name for himself
Calendar
- Backyard BBQ at Bare Pool with Steve Aoki (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
- Dubfire of Deepdish at Prive (10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.)
- Fourth of July party at Charlie’s Lakeside Casino (2 p.m. to 10 p.m.)
- Brooklyn Bridge Beer Bash at NYNY (noon to 11:59 p.m.)
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
They don't want you to win.
It's the same here in England, you bet a few winners, you find a bet that you like, you go to place the bet....."Sorry, we don't want your bets". But Mr Mug, who is a long term loser, is next in line with exactly the same bet, and they take his bet. Because they know that if he wins then he will lose it all back again tomorrow. On the racecourses now, bookmakers (legal here) have to display a sign showing how much they will guarantee to take in a bet, maybe you could lobby for that idea. Even if it's only $20 it's a start.
I hate to say it, but as usual Haney's article does not paint an accurate picture.
Parlay cards, because they are printed 3 to 5 days in advance of a game, often see substantial line moves.
This is the case in weekly parlay cards, as well as daily parlay cards made early in the morning on a daily basis.
As a sports book manager, it is only as a last resort that we take a game off of the card. Our goal is never to stop a customer from wagering.
What we watch for, are players that just key the games that differ greatly from the card to the current line.
The reason is clear, if a player bets a four-team parlay and ALL four games have moved a point or more in his favor, than the true payout is closer to 7 or 8-1 and not the 10 or 11-1 that the card will pay out. The reality is that with substantial line movement the player actually enjoys a positive theoretical advantage. Not unlike a card counter in 21.
The job of the manager, as any manager with a responsibility to his employer, is to allow the vast majority of players to wager -- even when they may be getting value. Where the manager must draw the line is when someone (and despite Haney's assertion that the state wins so much money that we should look the other way) is just an advantage player and nothing else.
Haney asserts that if he discovers an advantage than bookmakers should do nothing -- hardly the way any business is run. I can assure you that if Haney were an illegal bookmaker he would not allow customers to gain upwards of a 20 percent advantage on him.
Parlay cards, despite their hold percentage, have always been difficult for bookmakers. The reason is professional players, looking to exploit the line movement, sneak in plays late at nite --turn two or three parlay cards in at a time at different windows and multiple locations -- send women and retired people in as their agents.
It is a constant struggle for bookmakers when it comes to dealing with professional players.
The managers are just simply doing their job.
I would love for Haney to run a book sometime and I think his story would change drastically.
R Walker
retired
MAY I RECOMMEND A REMEDY "IT IS LIKE WHEN YOU TAKE A PILL AND YOU GET THE RUNS, YOU THEN STOP, AND TRY SOMETHING ELSE" MAYBE LEROY'S , OR STATION CASINOS, LOL.
DR. MAKEIT BETTER.
Vegas sportsbooks are run by scumbags.
A line change is not an excuse for unethical behavior.
If the line has moved then offer to write the parlay at the new line.
Interesting that Mr. Haney would one week bash Boyd's parlay cards and the next week he wants to play and complain about not being able to. Am I missing something?
Why isn't Mr. Haney running a book, he's so knowledgeable, knows all the percentages, and would let ANYONE bet anything. Oh, maybe I do understand. He wouldn't last long.
Keep writing for the "prestigious" Sun INSERT!
Jeff: I've been on both sides of the desk. I think if Nevada bookmakers want to deal parlay cards they should take a bet. If books want cards subject to conditional point spread moves, those rules should be clearly published.
Where can I get a copy of the parlay HOLD %-s you note in your article?