Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Betting:

Euro 2012 bringing excitement to Las Vegas sports books

With eight teams left, Spain and Germany favored at 2-to-1

Germany Euro 2012

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Germany’s Mario Gomez, right, is substituted by Miroslav Klose during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group B match between Denmark and Germany in Lviv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 17, 2012. Las Vegas oddsmakers favor Germany to win its first Euro championship since 1996.

Euro 2012 odds

  • Spain — 2-to-1
  • Germany — 2-to-1
  • England — 8-to-1
  • France — 10-to-1
  • Italy — 8-to-1
  • Portugal — 7-to-1
  • Czech Republic — 40-to-1
  • Greece — 50-to-1
  • Numbers from LVH Superbook

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The late morning and early afternoon hours are typically slow for sports books this time of year.

Aside from a few stragglers dropping in to pick up baseball line sheets, the book’s area on the casino floor remains mostly empty and silent.

The scene at the Caesars Palace race and sports book at 11 Tuesday morning, therefore, may have caught several pedestrians off-guard.

“Our book was absolutely packed for the England-Ukraine game,” said Caesars Entertainment’s Todd Fuhrman. “We had a huge British contingent.”

The Euro 2012 soccer tournament has given books a subtle boost they aren’t used to in the early summer. Action has gradually built leading into the Knockout Phase, an eight-team, single-elimination competition that gets under way with Portugal vs. Czech Republic on Thursday in Warsaw, Poland.

“It’s a good time of year for it because there’s not much going on during the day,” said Jeff Sherman, assistant race and sports director who oversees soccer at the LVH Superbook. “It’s the second largest tournament we’ll book. It’s behind the World Cup, and it’s not close to the World Cup when it comes to handle.”

The tournament, which takes place once every four years, runs through the championship match on July 1. Sports book directors are already happy with the way it’s attracted new clientele and enticed other bettors in the book to gamble on soccer.

But handle is expected to increase in a major way this weekend, when Spain meets France and England faces Italy in the quarterfinals. Bookmakers have favored Spain in the competition since first posting future odds. The Spaniards are currently 2-to-1 to win the tournament at the Superbook.

And England’s national team can count the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Cubs among their Vegas contemporaries as heavily bet public squads.

“It’s understood that every tournament you book, there’s going to be support on England,” Sherman said.

The folks at the LVH would rather see a team other than England hoist the Henri Delaunay Cup. The Superbook would break even on futures if England, who won Group D by beating Ukraine 1-0, prevailed.

The other seven teams are profitable. The two most popular picks to win the 2012 Euros at the LVH, Holland at 7-to-1 and Croatia at 30-to-1, were eliminated in group play.

Caesars doesn’t have it as easy. Bettors have loaded up on Greece, the longest shot remaining in the tournament, currently at 50-to-1.

“We’re hoping Greece doesn’t repeat their miracle run of 2004,” Fuhrman said. “We had Greece as high as 100-to-1 at one point. Their improbable run to get through Group A created some liability. But other than that, we’re in good shape.”

Greece has perhaps the toughest quarterfinal matchup with Germany, who the LVH lists as co-favorites with Spain, on Friday. Out of 16 teams, Germany was the only one to go undefeated in the group stage.

Germany has a consistent scoring threat in Mario Gomez, who has three goals in the 2012 Euros. That’s a luxury Spain lacks with superstar David Villa out due to a broken leg.

“Germany’s playing a little bit better than Spain and getting supported more at the betting window, too,” Sherman said. “Germany has been by far the most popular bet team on an individual game basis.”

Germany is a -400 (risking $4 to win $1) favorite to advance past Greece. The Germans are also -335 to win in regulation time, with the Greeks coming back at +700 and a draw at +350.

Germany is favored by 1.5 on the goal line.

With the different variations, Fuhrman sees too many bettors confused by what option they’re wagering on. He stresses reading all the stipulations so, for example, someone wanting to bet on Greece to advance doesn’t wind up with a two-way ticket on it to win in regulation.

It’s an issue books rarely have to deal with during the rest of the year. Soccer brings new concerns — and new excitement.

“When you have major soccer events like this that captivate audiences around the world, it’s big for us,” Fuhrman said. “The betting handle is just starting to grow, but the interest and life it’s created in the books is tremendous.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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