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Sportsbook Scene 1/8/02
Sportsbook Scene, By Buzz Daly
As You Go Thru Life, Heed This Simple Rule:
Keep Your Eye Upon the Donut, Not Upon the Hole
January 7, 2001
A memorable lament from a writer about his audience not getting the seemingly obvious point he was trying to make, came from Upton Sinclair back in 1906, when he complained about the public's response to his muckraking novel, "The Jungle".
His story illustrated in painful detail how workers in the meat-packing industry were exploited. It also exposed the disgustingly unsanitary conditions in which meat was handled.
An outraged public demanded that something be done to correct the filthy environment in which its food was processed. Reforms were introduced which led to meat inspections, and a seal of approval was required by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) for any meat that was sold to the public.
Lost in the shuffle was Sinclair's main story line, which was a thinly veiled plea for socialism.
"I aimed at the nation's heart, but hit it in the belly instead," he complained.
That lengthy prelude is our way of suggesting that the last column in which we listed Wayne Root's bowl picks suffered the same misunderstanding among readers as did Sinclair's book.
Our purpose was not to hype Root or his picks, but rather to point out that many touts concentrate their best efforts in marketing, not handicapping. We gambled that Root's picks would be less than scintillating, and the 5-7 record he compiled isn't likely to be used as bragging rights in any of his brochures or radio ads.
Of course, neither Root nor anyone else can be fairly judged on just 12 games. But it does offer fodder for thought.
Anyway, we received this critical missive from a reader named Ricco: "What a disservice you did posting Mr. Root's awful bowl selections: 5-7. And he didn't even pick the major bowls. A kid flipping a coin could do better than that. Keep up the crummy work."
After reviewing the column, we did not see any endorsement or recommendation for the picks that were posted. However, we accept the responsibility for the possibility of misinterpretation. Just running picks in this or any column apparently gives them a certain credibility.
In the same column, we mentioned that we know legitimate handicappers who sell picks, and received several inquiries for their names. That is something we just don't do. The reason is simple. People making those requests truly believe that somebody is picking winners at a 90 percent clip, and they just want to access them. Unfortunately, no such creature exists, outside of a tout's marketing machine.
Before signing off, let us stress that we are always on the lookout for good free selections. We would not want to leave the impression that we don't seek other opinions. We most certainly do.
QUANTUM LEAP FORWARD. Bettors are always looking for something that will give them an edge. Every once in a while something surfaces that actually works.
One of the original offshore industry groundbreakers, Oddswiz (www.bettorsworld.com), has been developing a live line service for two years and is now ready to launch it. This is an all-inclusive operation featuring leading offshore sportsbooks including WWTS, WSEX, Pinnacle, Aces Gold, SOS, Royal, Bet365USA, Wagerstreet, BoDog and Alladins.
Billed as a complete sports service, it will offer steam games, injuries and weather, and picks from top handicappers, along with live lines and a line service.
"We've finally nailed it down and are ready to get the beta version out," the Oddswiz told us. It should be available sometime this week, he added.
Over the years, Oddswiz has worked diligently to try to make the Internet a better, safer place for those of us who wager on sports. So the service will utilize his name and be called Oddswiz.com.
It will be offered free in a beta version, to encourage feedback from the public on suggested improvements and to point out any bugs that need to be fixed.
Oddswiz said a price could be put on the service eventually, but noted they might consider making it available at no cost to anyone who posts up a certain dollar amount with one of the books on the feed.
Additionally, a delayed version, which is linked from the main site, will be offered to any sports-related site which would like to have these odds. "We will customize the feed to fit the look of their site," said Oddswiz.
He stressed that this is not intended to compete with or replace the Don Best service. "Some of our books are just as live as their premium service, and others are delayed 30 seconds to no more than a minute," Oddswiz explained, "which makes it faster than Island Express currently is."
He added, "I take my hat off to Don Best and their premium service. It's second to none. But I think there's another level of players out there for whom the premium service is out of reach, and those are the players I think this can help."
There are a lot of companies trying to make a buck off the sports betting market, but many of them don't really understand what we need or want. Oddswiz has been a part of this online industry since it began.
"I believe I know what players want and need in a line service, being a player myself, and I plan on bringing all of my experience to the table in accomplishing that goal," he promised.
We've seen a test page and feel his assessment is right on the money.
CARIB PRO FOOTBALL HANDICAPPERS CHALLENGE RESULTS. Is there anything more tedious than listening to the blather of boorish touts bragging about their splendorific results? We think not.
Tales of outrageous winning percentages are nothing more than sales pitches to gullible, desperate bettors from professional scamdicappers.
Having said that, we're about to regale you with the tale of how we came in fourth place in the season-long NFL handicapping contest sponsored by Carib Sportsbook (www.caribsports.com).
The contest is run pretty much like the Las Vegas Hilton handicapping contest, but with an entry fee of $250 instead of $1500. It requires five picks of NFL sides (no totals) using the Carib lines each Tuesday.
All picks must be submitted by midnight Friday, after which they are posted on the Carib website, starting with the current leader's selections. A win receives two points, a push one point, and a loss nada.
Prize money (100% of the contestants' entry fees) is distributed among the top four finishers and the person with the worst record. Anyone hitting 67½ percent would share in an additional $10,000 prize. The pool was $72,750.
The first week of the season we went 5-0, but through a brain meltdown, we missed the deadline for getting in our picks the second week. We confused the midnight eastern deadline with midnight Pacific.
In week three, we were 4-1 but then, inexplicably, in week four we screwed up again. This time we thought the picks had been submitted but, due to our computer illiteracy, they weren't.
At this point we figured there was no shot at winning any prize money, but decided to keep on making our selections.
As the season wore on, we flirted with the leaders, but could never overcome our self-imposed handicap of missing 10 picks. But our winning percentage was consistently above 60 percent.
Finally, approaching the final week, we figured 5-0 would give us a shot at a money position. So, we agonized over the schedule, and followed our standard contest handicapping approach, which is to eliminate games until only five are left.
We went 4-1, missing out by ½ point and 51 seconds from having a perfect record the final week. Yep, we were on Seattle -3½. We will not revisit that game other than to say, Mike Holmgren has replaced Marty Schottenheimer as our least favorite NFL coach.
We missed out on tying for second, 103 points, but got a piece of fourth place, 101 points, with two other entrants. Our final record was 49 wins, 23 losses and 3 pushes, for a 65.3 win percentage.
Most people would win a fair amount of money picking 65 percent. But when the majority of your plays are parlays, that's not a high enough ratio to be profitable.
Contests like the ones at the LV Hilton, Carib and other offshore sportsbooks are good places to go for free picks. Certainly the Hilton has enough traffic on weekends after it posts the plays of contestants for all to see.
We spoke with Carib honcho William J. Caesar, who said he was satisfied with the way the contest worked but next year, he plans a couple of changes. Notably, the deadline for making picks will be extended to Sunday morning, which would still leave a few hours for the picks to be posted before the games kick off.
Our suggestion would be to make the contest selections accessible to anyone who visits the site, instead of just people with accounts.
GREEN VALLEY RANCH REVISITED. We recently reported of the problems at the new Station casino sportsbook, in which many NFL bettors were shut out the opening weekend.
The problem at Green Valley Ranch has been corrected. A few rows of chairs were taken out, allowing more space for bettors to line up in front of the four ticket windows.
BOWL GAME MUSING. We're not going to offer any comments about the BCS being a bad joke, since that is abundantly clear to virtually everyone.
But for those who wonder why the BCS cannot simply be changed or replaced, look no further than the NCAA and its unholy alliance with those bastions of commerce, a television network.
In Rudy Martzke's USA Today Sports on TV column, the arrogance of the power brokers behind the BCS was illustrated. Here is a quote from ABC vice president Mark Mandel: "This is the way it is going to be (through the 2006 bowls), it is a great improvement on what we had before."
If the public gets so disgusted with the way the BCS dictates the bowl matchups and this is translated into lower ratings, then we might see ABC suggesting something more definitive, like a playoff system.
LOYAL AUDIENCE. In Miami's romp over Nebraska, how many viewers were still around at the end of the game? With a score of 37-14, those who bet the total, which wavered between 54 and 55, were still engrossed in seeking the final determination of their action.
A lot of bettors can only mumble expletives deleted with 'Husker head coach Frank Solich's call late in the fourth quarter on 4th and 6 in the red zone, when he ran it up the middle and gained the obligatory two yards. Lights out.
Please send questions, comments, etc., to [email protected].
As You Go Thru Life, Heed This Simple Rule:
Keep Your Eye Upon the Donut, Not Upon the Hole
January 7, 2001
A memorable lament from a writer about his audience not getting the seemingly obvious point he was trying to make, came from Upton Sinclair back in 1906, when he complained about the public's response to his muckraking novel, "The Jungle".
His story illustrated in painful detail how workers in the meat-packing industry were exploited. It also exposed the disgustingly unsanitary conditions in which meat was handled.
An outraged public demanded that something be done to correct the filthy environment in which its food was processed. Reforms were introduced which led to meat inspections, and a seal of approval was required by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) for any meat that was sold to the public.
Lost in the shuffle was Sinclair's main story line, which was a thinly veiled plea for socialism.
"I aimed at the nation's heart, but hit it in the belly instead," he complained.
That lengthy prelude is our way of suggesting that the last column in which we listed Wayne Root's bowl picks suffered the same misunderstanding among readers as did Sinclair's book.
Our purpose was not to hype Root or his picks, but rather to point out that many touts concentrate their best efforts in marketing, not handicapping. We gambled that Root's picks would be less than scintillating, and the 5-7 record he compiled isn't likely to be used as bragging rights in any of his brochures or radio ads.
Of course, neither Root nor anyone else can be fairly judged on just 12 games. But it does offer fodder for thought.
Anyway, we received this critical missive from a reader named Ricco: "What a disservice you did posting Mr. Root's awful bowl selections: 5-7. And he didn't even pick the major bowls. A kid flipping a coin could do better than that. Keep up the crummy work."
After reviewing the column, we did not see any endorsement or recommendation for the picks that were posted. However, we accept the responsibility for the possibility of misinterpretation. Just running picks in this or any column apparently gives them a certain credibility.
In the same column, we mentioned that we know legitimate handicappers who sell picks, and received several inquiries for their names. That is something we just don't do. The reason is simple. People making those requests truly believe that somebody is picking winners at a 90 percent clip, and they just want to access them. Unfortunately, no such creature exists, outside of a tout's marketing machine.
Before signing off, let us stress that we are always on the lookout for good free selections. We would not want to leave the impression that we don't seek other opinions. We most certainly do.
QUANTUM LEAP FORWARD. Bettors are always looking for something that will give them an edge. Every once in a while something surfaces that actually works.
One of the original offshore industry groundbreakers, Oddswiz (www.bettorsworld.com), has been developing a live line service for two years and is now ready to launch it. This is an all-inclusive operation featuring leading offshore sportsbooks including WWTS, WSEX, Pinnacle, Aces Gold, SOS, Royal, Bet365USA, Wagerstreet, BoDog and Alladins.
Billed as a complete sports service, it will offer steam games, injuries and weather, and picks from top handicappers, along with live lines and a line service.
"We've finally nailed it down and are ready to get the beta version out," the Oddswiz told us. It should be available sometime this week, he added.
Over the years, Oddswiz has worked diligently to try to make the Internet a better, safer place for those of us who wager on sports. So the service will utilize his name and be called Oddswiz.com.
It will be offered free in a beta version, to encourage feedback from the public on suggested improvements and to point out any bugs that need to be fixed.
Oddswiz said a price could be put on the service eventually, but noted they might consider making it available at no cost to anyone who posts up a certain dollar amount with one of the books on the feed.
Additionally, a delayed version, which is linked from the main site, will be offered to any sports-related site which would like to have these odds. "We will customize the feed to fit the look of their site," said Oddswiz.
He stressed that this is not intended to compete with or replace the Don Best service. "Some of our books are just as live as their premium service, and others are delayed 30 seconds to no more than a minute," Oddswiz explained, "which makes it faster than Island Express currently is."
He added, "I take my hat off to Don Best and their premium service. It's second to none. But I think there's another level of players out there for whom the premium service is out of reach, and those are the players I think this can help."
There are a lot of companies trying to make a buck off the sports betting market, but many of them don't really understand what we need or want. Oddswiz has been a part of this online industry since it began.
"I believe I know what players want and need in a line service, being a player myself, and I plan on bringing all of my experience to the table in accomplishing that goal," he promised.
We've seen a test page and feel his assessment is right on the money.
CARIB PRO FOOTBALL HANDICAPPERS CHALLENGE RESULTS. Is there anything more tedious than listening to the blather of boorish touts bragging about their splendorific results? We think not.
Tales of outrageous winning percentages are nothing more than sales pitches to gullible, desperate bettors from professional scamdicappers.
Having said that, we're about to regale you with the tale of how we came in fourth place in the season-long NFL handicapping contest sponsored by Carib Sportsbook (www.caribsports.com).
The contest is run pretty much like the Las Vegas Hilton handicapping contest, but with an entry fee of $250 instead of $1500. It requires five picks of NFL sides (no totals) using the Carib lines each Tuesday.
All picks must be submitted by midnight Friday, after which they are posted on the Carib website, starting with the current leader's selections. A win receives two points, a push one point, and a loss nada.
Prize money (100% of the contestants' entry fees) is distributed among the top four finishers and the person with the worst record. Anyone hitting 67½ percent would share in an additional $10,000 prize. The pool was $72,750.
The first week of the season we went 5-0, but through a brain meltdown, we missed the deadline for getting in our picks the second week. We confused the midnight eastern deadline with midnight Pacific.
In week three, we were 4-1 but then, inexplicably, in week four we screwed up again. This time we thought the picks had been submitted but, due to our computer illiteracy, they weren't.
At this point we figured there was no shot at winning any prize money, but decided to keep on making our selections.
As the season wore on, we flirted with the leaders, but could never overcome our self-imposed handicap of missing 10 picks. But our winning percentage was consistently above 60 percent.
Finally, approaching the final week, we figured 5-0 would give us a shot at a money position. So, we agonized over the schedule, and followed our standard contest handicapping approach, which is to eliminate games until only five are left.
We went 4-1, missing out by ½ point and 51 seconds from having a perfect record the final week. Yep, we were on Seattle -3½. We will not revisit that game other than to say, Mike Holmgren has replaced Marty Schottenheimer as our least favorite NFL coach.
We missed out on tying for second, 103 points, but got a piece of fourth place, 101 points, with two other entrants. Our final record was 49 wins, 23 losses and 3 pushes, for a 65.3 win percentage.
Most people would win a fair amount of money picking 65 percent. But when the majority of your plays are parlays, that's not a high enough ratio to be profitable.
Contests like the ones at the LV Hilton, Carib and other offshore sportsbooks are good places to go for free picks. Certainly the Hilton has enough traffic on weekends after it posts the plays of contestants for all to see.
We spoke with Carib honcho William J. Caesar, who said he was satisfied with the way the contest worked but next year, he plans a couple of changes. Notably, the deadline for making picks will be extended to Sunday morning, which would still leave a few hours for the picks to be posted before the games kick off.
Our suggestion would be to make the contest selections accessible to anyone who visits the site, instead of just people with accounts.
GREEN VALLEY RANCH REVISITED. We recently reported of the problems at the new Station casino sportsbook, in which many NFL bettors were shut out the opening weekend.
The problem at Green Valley Ranch has been corrected. A few rows of chairs were taken out, allowing more space for bettors to line up in front of the four ticket windows.
BOWL GAME MUSING. We're not going to offer any comments about the BCS being a bad joke, since that is abundantly clear to virtually everyone.
But for those who wonder why the BCS cannot simply be changed or replaced, look no further than the NCAA and its unholy alliance with those bastions of commerce, a television network.
In Rudy Martzke's USA Today Sports on TV column, the arrogance of the power brokers behind the BCS was illustrated. Here is a quote from ABC vice president Mark Mandel: "This is the way it is going to be (through the 2006 bowls), it is a great improvement on what we had before."
If the public gets so disgusted with the way the BCS dictates the bowl matchups and this is translated into lower ratings, then we might see ABC suggesting something more definitive, like a playoff system.
LOYAL AUDIENCE. In Miami's romp over Nebraska, how many viewers were still around at the end of the game? With a score of 37-14, those who bet the total, which wavered between 54 and 55, were still engrossed in seeking the final determination of their action.
A lot of bettors can only mumble expletives deleted with 'Husker head coach Frank Solich's call late in the fourth quarter on 4th and 6 in the red zone, when he ran it up the middle and gained the obligatory two yards. Lights out.
Please send questions, comments, etc., to [email protected].
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