When looking for a consistent winner, many of Doc’s faithful have turned to the Vegas Sports Informer over the past four years to get their selections for the week in a number of different sports. What gives VSI his winning edge is the ability to utilize a keen insight in the world of sports gaming from behind the counter of one of the biggest books in Las Vegas; the undisputed gambling capital of the world.

As part of an ongoing weekly series, Doc’s Sports Services decided to take better advantage of this unique insight by sitting down with The Informer to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the Las Vegas sports betting scene. The world behind the counter of a Las Vegas book is one of the best places you will ever find to try and carve out an edge for all the major sporting events on any given week’s slate.

Doc’s Sports: Last weekend was filled with a number of big football matchups on both Saturday’s and Sunday’s schedule, so how did the Las Vegas books fare with all that action.

VSI: Saturday turned out to be a pretty good day with LSU covering against Alabama and Pittsburgh giving Notre Dame a run for its money. As far as Sunday, all I can say is that in my 15 years in this business, I probably have never seen the books take such a bad beating, especially in the early games. The morning’s action featured parlay after parlay using Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and Denver in any number of combinations. The loss alone on the Bears was simply staggering.

Doc’s Sports: While this would have been an incredible year to start a four-team playoff, which two college teams do you see ending up in this season’s BCS title game?

VSI: You would have to think that Alabama is a lock after getting by LSU, so all the attention turns to this Saturday’s Kansas State vs. TCU game. The health of Wildcats’ quarterback Collin Klein is probably one of the biggest topics of conversation in town right now leading into this game. If K-State gets by the Horned Frogs you would have to think it would run the table. My personal belief is that the betting public is pulling for Oregon to slip into that No. 2 spot to set up a showdown between the Crimson Tide’s shut-down defense and the Ducks’ high-powered offense.

Doc’s Sports: You mentioned the Bears as attracting quite a bit of attention last week from the betting public; do you think that a resurgent Packers’ team has any chance to catch them in the NFC North title race?

VSI: From what I can see behind the counter, Green Bay continues to fly well under the radar as a result of its slow start, while Chicago’s defense has suddenly become the darling of the betting world. If you adhere to the old adage that defense wins championships, then I would stick with the Bears to remain on top. If you are looking for a second-half sleeper, then latch onto the Packers to maybe not win the division but to cover in the majority of their games from here on in.

Doc’s Sports: Turning to the NBA, are you surprised with the Celtics and Lakers slow start?

VSI: I usually do not pay too much attention to a team’s record through the first 10 or 12 games of a new season. The better teams in the NBA tend to work through these minor setbacks, which certainly would apply in the case of Boston and LA. I am more concerned with focusing on individual situations. The two that are at the top of my list are teams playing back-to-back nights and a team’s first home game after coming off a two- or three-game road trip. In both scenarios, I will usually tend to go against a team that finds itself in either of those situations.

Doc’s Sports: This Friday night marks the start of the college basketball season. Are there any early games have caught your attention?

VSI: With college football still in full swing, I tend to hold back on basketball until most teams have a couple of games in the book. With so many freshmen and underclassmen filling starting roles nowadays, it is hard to know what to expect from any team right out of the gate. The action on these early games is usually pretty light, and most of the money is still tied up in football, but if you feel compelled to wager on the first few rounds of games, then focus your energy on first-half lines and totals. I’ll start taking a closer look at betting sides once the tournament season gets underway as there is always some solid value to be found in neutral-site matchups.

To keep up on all the inside information from Las Vegas be sure to follow VSI on Twitter @vsidocsports. Also, if you have any questions for The Informer that you would like us to cover in future articles please email them to askvsi@docsports.com and we will do our best to add them into the mix.