The Vegas Sports Informer is now in his fifth year of providing picks for Doc’s Sports Service; utilizing over 15 years experience handicapping games, with much of that time spent working under the bright lights of The Strip in Las Vegas. It is the “exclusive information” that can only be gained from working in the sports gambling capital of the world that gives the Informer a proven winning edge.

Doc’s decided to sit down with one of its top handicappers in a brand new weekly series that looks to explore the entire Las Vegas sports betting scene as only a true insider can see and understand it. Our goal is to provide a unique glimpse into the world behind the Las Vegas books as well as some insight into the actual process of successfully handicapping the games.

Doc’s Sports: We just wrapped up another week in the NFL with Denver’s big come-from-behind win over San Diego, so what was the hot ticket in Vegas last weekend?

VSI: Most times the normal trend is for the betting public to go heavy on the small home favorites, but after the dogs crushed it during the day there was a major move towards the underdog and the “over” for the last two night games. This may have had something to do with the teams being the Packers and the Broncos, but the general consensus behind the counter was that the bettors decided keep riding the hot trend on the dogs all the way to the bank.

Doc’s Sports: The early results in the NFL heavily skew towards the underdogs in general. Do you see that trend continuing?

VSI: When you look at the actual numbers so far, the results are a little shocking. Through the first six weeks of the season, the underdogs are 56-31-4, which equates to a 64 percent return. What makes that number stand out even more is the fact that the underdog has won outright in 39 of the first 91 games. I personally see the dogs barking for a couple of more weeks, but it is only a matter of time before the oddsmakers make the necessary adjustments.

Doc’s Sports: Seeing that we are at the midway point of the college football season and rapidly approaching the halfway point in the NFL, in your experience behind the counter, who is getting the better of it so far, the Las Vegas books or the bettors?

VSI: One thing that you quickly learn working behind the counter in this business is that the books may take their lumps on any given weekend, but over the course of time, they always come out ahead. Otherwise they would not be in business. Bettors do tend to become wiser as the season progresses as teams begin to reveal their true colors. For example, everyone was on Michigan State at the beginning of the season, but the Spartans defense has not been able to live up to expectations. However, you must not lose sight of the fact that as the bettors become wiser, so do the books.

Doc’s Sports: The BCS released its initial rankings this past Sunday. Is there anything that stands out in your mind in this first poll?

VSI: There are no real surprises that caught me off guard other than perhaps a little bias against the West Coast teams, in particular Oregon at No.3. Notre Dame may be getting a little preferential treatment, but that will work itself out when the Irish face Oklahoma in a couple of weeks. LSU is still a major factor in the SEC at one loss, and this week’s big matchup between South Carolina and Florida should go a long way at helping to shake things out. The Gamecocks are a team that really interests me as a road underdog against the Gators. Florida is a good team, but perhaps a little overrated at No.2.

Doc’s Sports: As we head into this week’s action, what is hot in Las Vegas in terms of handicapping the games?

VSI: The first thing that jumped off the page was some of the huge spreads this week in college football. I think I counted eight games with spreads of 20 points or more. This is the kind of stuff you are used to seeing in the first few weeks of the season, not in Week 8 when conference games dominate the schedule. There is no question that some of these favorites will not be covering the spread, but the real opportunity is on the total line. High spreads and the “over” often go hand-in-hand this time of year as the favorite runs up a big lead and then lets its second- and third-teamers get some playing time. This gives the opposing team an opportunity to add some meaningless points on the board to help run up the score. Do not be surprised if I work a couple of these kinds of games into this week’s picks.

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