Vegas report: What to bet on?
So I'm just back from Las Vegas, a few dollars lighter in the wallet, and thought I'd report on a) the World Series of Poker main event, and b) the slowest week of the calendar year at the casino sports books.
I'll keep it brief on the WSOP because, well, if you're like me and watch the main event religiously on ESPN's delayed broadcasts, you don't want to know too much too soon.
Based on a few poker-celeb sightings at the Bellagio Wednesday night, though, it was pretty clear that, by Day 2b, two-time main event champion Johnny Chan and T.J. Cloutier were gone. Chan was ousted on the first day, it turns out, right along with TV celebs Jason Alexander (George Costanza) and Ray Romano. Tobey McGuire lasted a little longer.
There were still a good 800-1,000 players left in the Rio Pavilion when we took in some of the chip-pushing action Wednesday night. We watched Daniel Negreanu bust out a young player at the featured table but learned that Negreanu was himself eliminated before play wrapped up that night. Gus Hansen was close to the chip lead at the time and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was alive.
I won't say who remains contention as tomorrow's final table approaches, but you can check here for updates if you can't wait for the tape delay. They were down to 17 players as of last night's dinner break. ESPN will show the final table live Tuesday at 3 p.m. on a pay-per-view basis.
Being a sports writer, I refrain from wagering on sporting events myself aside from the occasional horse or dog race. No Betting On Humans is my rule. But I thought I'd check out some of the Vegas sports books while in town to see what was drawing betting action on arguably the three slowest days of the year in sports.
Well, Monday at Planet Hollywood, they posted odds on baseball's home run contest. Exciting. Not many bettors in the room for that. Horse races from across the country dominated the big boards at most sports books this week, but you could also find odds on WNBA games (the Mystics were 6-point faves over Minnesota on Tuesday and won by 8 in OT), the upcoming John Deere Classic (NC State alum Tim Clark was going off at 30-to-1 and finished 1 stroke back; he was 70-to-1 in this week's British Open while Tiger would only pay 5-to-2) and, of course, the All-Star game.
The AL was favored, with a bet of $13.50 winning $10. And, just like the previous nine years, the AL won the midsummer's classic. If a true gambling degenerate, you also could have bet on who hits the game's first HR (A-Rod was a 5-to-1 pick), which team scores first or last, etc.
Southern Cal is currently favored to win the BCS title, at 13-to-5 odds. Virginia Tech (22-to-1) is getting the heaviest action among ACC schools, with Wake Forest at 150-to-1, N.C. State at 200-to-1, UNC and Duke among "the field" at 50-to-1.
No bets taken on Wednesday night's Triple-A All-Star game, so that truly was the deadest of days at the sports book.
That allowed me to turn my attention to a couple of no-limit hold 'em tournaments where I could toss away my own money. If you're looking for a good poker room, you should get off the Strip and give the Orleans a try. Really enjoyed the $80 buy-in tournament there despite finishing well out of the money.
Comments (3)
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As much as I like Tim Clark, especially in majors, I would hold off on that 70-1 in the Open championship....since he's not in the field.
Posted on July 17, 2007 9:42 PM
Thanks for the update, Patrick. Indeed, Clark failed to qualify by virtue of blowing a 3-stroke lead over the final nine holes of the John Deere Classic and losing to Jonathan Byrd. Apparently, the oddsmakers were confident that the State alum would take his first PGA victory to make the Open field. Betting on Clark would be dead money now.
On a related topic, I wonder how many East coasters made it through to the end of the WSOP main event, either on PPV TV or online. One of Clark's fellow South Africans survived to the late going. It was finally decided just before 7 a.m. Eastern time after the final table started at 3 p.m. Tuesday. There were five quick eliminations but the final four went on and on ... and on. I won't divulge details (you know where to find them if you care), but I'll say that I finally bailed at a break just before 6 a.m.
Posted on July 18, 2007 2:39 PM
I kept half an eye on the WSOP until after the dinner break, but I finally had to call it a night. Three runners-up hung in pretty well against a big stack.
I hated it for Clark. He is a good egg and his game is well-suited for Carnoustie.
Posted on July 19, 2007 10:43 PM