Story Archive

Aged underdog leads in word war

Full of bravado, champ faces skilled, youthful challenger in title bout

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

The story line of the fight frames it as a clash between an unbeaten up-and-comer in Dawson and an established yet aging world champ in Tarver.

Flawless records cancel out

Spread in matchup holds steady as teams overachieve

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008

What happens when two teams -- Big 12 South rivals Oklahoma and Texas -- are exceeding expectations: The early-bird point spread stays firmly in place as the season progresses.

Analyst cites ‘damning statistics’ against ref

When point spreads shifted by certain amounts in games he officiated, bettors on the side of the move always won

Monday, Oct. 6, 2008

Throughout the saga of disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy, Las Vegas sports betting analyst R.J. Bell has done a thorough job of examining the scandal from a point-spread perspective.

Prefight, rhetorical punches fly

As veteran Tarver sneers, undefeated Dawson promises victory in title bout

Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008

As the man who embodies the future of boxing’s light heavyweight division, Chad Dawson vowed to demonstrate, once and for all, that Antonio Tarver’s best days are in the past.

Time for something drastic?

If sports books insist on unethical behavior, maybe they should be forced to close shop

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008

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.

This season’s overachievers on betting odds

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008

With updated betting odds on baseball’s postseason to be released in the next day or so, the conclusion of the major league regular season brought to light one team and one individual who clearly surpassed the preseason expectations of oddsmakers and the betting public.

The price of success

Odds change on the two NFL teams that have beat the spread three times

Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008

Of the NFL teams that have played three games this season heading into Week 4, only two have a perfect record against the point spread.

Just because a sucker’s born every minute ...

Reputable radio station shouldn’t put its name on the line by allowing scam artists on the air

Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008

If I’m listening to the radio at all on a weekend morning, it’s almost exclusively either “The Howard Stern Show” or NPR.

Misleading Las Vegas gambling claims

Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008

In preparing a survey on the best and worst football parlay cards in Las Vegas casinos, I heard an advertisement proclaiming the Boyd Gaming/Coast Casinos properties have “the best parlay cards on the planet” this season.

Hope for online poker advocates

House bill would undo 2-year-old restrictions on U.S. players

Friday, Sept. 19, 2008

Some gamblers and online poker advocates were caught off guard when the House Financial Services Committee passed a bill that would overturn much of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Marquez proves worth as heavy favorite in first lightweight fight

Monday, Sept. 15, 2008

Late money at the betting window has a reputation for being smart money.

Counterpunchers face off

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008

As he was fighting his way up through the ranks, Joel Casamayor, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist for Cuba, always figured he would one day land a high-profile world title fight against a future hall-of-famer from Mexico.

What a difference a Brady makes

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008

As the former Super Bowl favorite New England Patriots prepare for life — or at least the rest of the season — without quarterback Tom Brady, the betting ramifications of the future Hall of Famer’s knee injury are coming into focus.

Football props aren’t so new

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008

Head-to-head player matchups and other oddball football proposition wagers are often treated like a recent phenomenon, a modern-day corruption of the standard straight bet on which team will win the game.

Sports books are smashing expected win rates on football

Gamblers who take unattractive bets are a big reason why

Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008

With the first weekend of regular-season NFL action comes a rekindling of the real national pastime, especially in these parts: betting on football.

Gamblers who backed lowly Temple — as a favorite — may have been using a smart calculus, or just had lots of luck

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

Perhaps the hoariest handicapping angle in college football betting — tallying a team’s returning starters — paid off in a crucial matchup during the season’s opening weekend.

Why college football coaches who routinely fail to cover the spread are at risk of losing their jobs

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008

Five of the 10 college football coaches widely thought to be on the “hot seat” this year failed to cover the point spread in their season opener, including Mike Sanford of UNLV.

Beware the guru in your inbox

Friday, Aug. 29, 2008

As a gambling columnist, I’m not only the lucky recipient of foolproof roulette systems from every crackpot in the ... er, I mean from valued readers.

This pair, bettors would fold

Neither candidate is promising for effort to legalize online poker in U.S., industry insiders say

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008

When asked which of the presumed presidential candidates would be better for gamblers in general and poker players in particular, poker industry insider Jay Lakin said one of the above.

Sports wagering seminar covers all the bases

Oddsmaker discusses Las Vegas’ relationship with the NCAA, football predictions, and how lines are set

Monday, Aug. 25, 2008

A week previous, Kenny White had been addressing a group of NCAA officials on their home turf in Indianapolis in the role of a special guest from Las Vegas.

A bettor’s guide to sports books

The considerations: Odds, amenities, creativity and you, the earnest gambler

Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008

It might be fun to speculate about sports betting’s “wise guys,” about what they’re up to on any given football Sunday, about which teams they think will cover the spread, about how many piles of money they’re betting and where they’re betting them.

How you can bet the Bowl

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008

The most likely Super Bowl matchup this NFL season, according to oddsmakers and the betting public, is the New England Patriots against the Dallas Cowboys.

Betting lines on the rumored Pacquiao-De La Hoya bout would show a close matchup

However, weight gap still concerns boxing purists

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008

Given the shaky state of negotiations between the relevant parties, a megafight pitting Oscar De La Hoya against Manny Pacquiao could be considered a long shot in itself.

Use books’ numbers against them

If their NFL lines are accurate, bettors can tally them to win

Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

The original plan did not entail focusing so heavily on the AFC West in making our NFL season-victory over/under selections. That was where the numbers led us.

Pattern of season’s baseball betting comes into focus: Gamblers betting a little less than last year, casinos winning a little more

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008

Baseball gamblers in Nevada risked less money in the state’s sports books in June compared with last season, but fared a little better at the windows, according to the latest figures from the Gaming Control Board.

If you’re feeling lucky, this book has a bet for you

Jeff Haney on the unusual step taken to attract NFL bettors to the Plaza downtown

Monday, Aug. 11, 2008

Football bettors in Las Vegas can get a jump on their regular-season NFL wagering, as Lucky’s sports book in the Plaza downtown has posted betting lines on every game on the 2008 schedule.

Why sports books don’t want to offer bets on the Olympics, anyway

Friday, Aug. 8, 2008

Enjoy the Beijing Games, but forget about betting on them in Nevada sports books.

Jeff Haney says new ‘Leroy’s Sports Hour’ on-air time is a winner for host, gamblers

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008

By his own admission, John Kelly was “going nuts” during a recent two-month hiatus from “Leroy’s Sports Hour,” which left him without a daily platform for his observations about sports gambling.

Judah’s side spews frustration

Clottey claims vacant belt in bout truncated by eye-opening head butt

Monday, Aug. 4, 2008

Sounding like the guy on the old Jerky Boys prank call who wants to “sue everybody,” Yoel Judah couldn’t decide precisely where to direct his frustration after his son Zab’s loss to Joshua Clottey for the IBF welterweight championship.

Cage fighter has ties to troops, N.M. gov

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008

Carlos Condit, the World Extreme Cagefighting welterweight champion who fights Sunday at the Hard Rock Hotel, has achieved an increasingly high profile in mixed martial arts since winning the title last year.

Past skirmish simmers in title fight background

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008

The Pearl at the Palms is perfect for Top Rank Inc.’s first show on HBO’s 13-year-old Boxing After Dark program, according to Top Rank President Todd duBoef.

Lines on season wins for New England and USC are active, moving in different directions

Friday, Aug. 1, 2008

The New England Patriots and the USC Trojans figure to win more games than any other teams in pro and college football this season, according to oddsmakers’ projections.

Odds-on Veep picks, literally

It’s an illegal bet here, but offshore books are window to perceptions game

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

For all the opinions about who should be running mates for Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, there’s one group that puts its money where its mouth is — offshore bettors.

An underdog once again

Jeff Haney finds boxer Zab Judah returning to the ring with a big title on the line

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Former world champ Zab Judah will enter the ring as a betting underdog for the third consecutive title fight Saturday when he takes on Joshua Clottey for the vacant International Boxing Federation welterweight championship at the Palms.

Decisive win puts Margarito in driver’s seat

New welterweight champ now has cache to call the shots

Monday, July 28, 2008

For the better part of this decade, at least since winning his first world welterweight title in 2002, Antonio Margarito had been the quintessential high-risk, low-reward fighter.

Take Five: Cotto vs. Margarito, ‘The Battle’

Saturday, July 26, 2008

The clash of the world’s two best welterweights also carries on the rich tradition of fights between Mexican and Puerto Rican greats.

Cotto giving fans what they want to see

Welterweight champ says his decision to take on his toughest opponent is good for boxing

Friday, July 25, 2008

The welterweight world championship fight between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito is more than just an enticing matchup of the division’s two most dangerous and aggressive boxers.

Jeff Haney learns of the pluses of World Poker’s new network deal from the tour’s founder: More drama in less time, and an innovative TV ally

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Even the founder of the World Poker Tour acknowledges a quirk, an inherent flaw, in the presentation of the organization’s made-for-TV tournaments to date.

Margarito-Cotto fight promises passion, action

Monday, July 21, 2008

Perhaps the highest compliment in boxing is to say someone competes like a Mexican fighter.

Jeff Haney has it straight from an authoritative source, oddsmakers, that Notre Dame is to improve the most

Friday, July 18, 2008

After suffering its worst season since 1963 last year, Notre Dame emerged in early preseason chatter as a prime candidate to become college football’s most improved team. This week it became official ... or at least as official as it gets in Las Vegas. Oddsmakers set a line, and gamblers can bet into it.

Jeff Haney says despite lopsided betting lines, expect the welterweight title fight between Cotto and Margarito to be among the best bouts this year

Thursday, July 17, 2008

For a boxing match righteously hyped as a fight of the year candidate, the gambling action in the July 26 welterweight world title bout has been decidedly lopsided in favor of Miguel Cotto.

And then there were nine

Jeff Haney wonders whether World Series’ 117-day hiatus is too long

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

After 11 days of play in the World Series of Poker main event, the starting field of 6,844 players in the game’s premier tournament has been whittled down to ... nine guys you never heard of.

How two trades affected World Series odds

Monday, July 14, 2008

Betting odds on the success of the Milwaukee Brewers in baseball’s postseason play took a hit in the past week after the team’s big trade for left-hander C.C. Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians.

Nobody writes gambling as well

Jeff Haney remembers Reno’s old Mapes Hotel as he talks with ‘California Split’ creator Joseph Walsh

Friday, July 11, 2008

They demolished the Mapes Hotel early in the year 2000, reducing the historic high-rise to a pile of debris by the Truckee River in downtown Reno.

Jeff Haney says ‘Big One’s’ big turnout cements status

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Officials with the Ultimate Fighting Championship couldn’t help but take a not-so-disguised shot at their rivals in the boxing business.

Round 1 goes to Forrest Griffin

Light heavyweight title changes hands in closely called decision sure to command a rematch

Monday, July 7, 2008

Fighting in mixed martial arts competitions, as opposed to scoring them, remains the true metier of Forrest Griffin and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Griffin gets UFC light heavyweight crown

Sunday, July 6, 2008

The Ultimate Fighting Championship crowned a new light heavyweight champion Saturday night when Forrest Griffin outpointed Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in a five-round unanimous decision before a sellout crowd of 11,172 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Take Five: Ultimate Fighting Championship 86, Jackson vs. Griffin

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who figures to attack Forrest Griffin relentlessly and work his straight right hands and high kicks, said he likes the way the fight shapes up stylewise.

Jeff Haney glimpses a World Series ‘Big One’ that’s sure to be high on drama, attendance

Friday, July 4, 2008

A festival atmosphere greeted thousands of poker players, spectators and curiosity seekers at the opening day of the main event of the 39th annual World Series of Poker Thursday at the Rio.

Jeff Haney on the ‘prince of poker,’ Scotty Nguyen, who finished first in the game’s ultimate test of skill and who stops at nothing to accommodate fans

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

At 4 o’clock in the morning on the biggest day of the World Series of Poker’s summer session, Scotty Nguyen was steaming.