LVH Superbook tags America as favorite over Chivas in today’s exhibition

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, July 3, 2013 | 2 a.m.

The new staff at the LVH Superbook was skeptical of the suggestion.

When the then-Las Vegas Hilton brought in Jay Kornegay and his team of oddsmakers to run the city’s largest sports book in 2004, the property’s general manager wanted them to offer betting on Mexican soccer.

“I had no experience with it,” said Jeff Sherman, assistant sports book director at the LVH Superbook. “At that time, it was basically England, Italy and Spain that were driving sources for soccer. But it did so good right away.”

Nearly a decade later without interruption, the Superbook is still posting odds on Liga MX, Mexico’s top soccer league.

Gambling is available on all the games throughout the season, which begins this month, and even on today’s exhibition game between rivals Club America and Chivas Guadalajara at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Sherman posted America as a plus-135 favorite (risking $1 to win $1.35) in the game with Guadalajara fetching plus-200 and a draw paying plus-210.

“The defending champion deserves to be favored,” Sherman said. “But you’ve got to relax a little bit with it being an exhibition match. I’m sure these two teams playing in this market will come out and give a good performance. The question is how long they’ll play their starters.”

Sherman looked at the odds and results from the teams’ recent meetings to formulate the number. America has beaten Guadalajara twice in three games over the past two years, including in March as part of the Clausura 2013 season.

America went on to win the championship, giving the team its 11th Liga MX title. That’s a significant mark because it ties the all-time record held by Guadalajara, which hasn’t prevailed in seven years and 14 tournaments.

The “El Super Clasico” rivalry has never been so bitter.

“These teams have tremendous followings, and we’ve done this for the local exhibition games in the past, so that’s why we put a line up,” Sherman said.

The LVH Superbook was the only place in town where betting was available Tuesday, but William Hill sports books planned to post its own numbers sometime before the start of the game. The Superbook will also post odds on the July 13 local exhibition between Mexico’s Monarcas and El Salvador’s L.A. Firpo before the game.

“All soccer has grown in popularity,” Sherman said. “Television availability is one of the biggest things behind that. There are so many more games for viewing now, and that really drives the betting aspect of it.”

Sherman said the Superbook saw an uptick in Mexican league handle when Spanish-speaking channels widely available locally began airing more games. William Hill has also carved a niche in the market, as fans congregate at some of their properties to catch the games.

The LVH posts odds on as many as 20 leagues worldwide, and Mexico generates the third most action. The European Champions League and the English Premier League are the only ones currently ahead.

“It’s a staple of where we’re at,” Sherman said. “We’ve had some discussions about leagues we could discontinue — like the Dutch for example, because the only time it’s used is for someone to throw them into a parlay — but we’ve never had a reason to consider it with Mexico.”

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