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Football 04/05 Archives
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Pacers fight
by Jeremy Martin
If adversity builds success, then the Indiana Pacers just might make an NBA Finals run after all.
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NFL Opening Weekend = Big Business
by Jeremy Martin
Most NFL fans will agree -- the offseason can seem like an eternity. After the draft concludes in April, excitement slowly builds until it reaches the point of near hysteria for opening weekend. That enthusiasm translates into big business for the sports books. Opening weekend is consistently one of the top football weekends of the year for the bookies in terms of betting handle.
Read more about NFL odds.
College Football Predictions
UCLA won six games last year under first-year coach Karl Dorrell and expect an improved performance this year with Dorrell acquiring more of his own recruits. UCLA has a favorable home schedule and should start off the season 4-1 before they get into the meat of their schedule.
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2004 NFL Season Totals Popular With Recreational Bettors
by Jeremy Martin
While most bettors are familiar with NFL future pools, which involve picking a team to win their division, conference or even the Super Bowl, not everyone knows that they can also bet the 'over' or 'under' on the number of games a particular team will win over the course of its season.
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Kansas City Chiefs Preview
by Jeremy Martin
Can one man make a difference on an NFL football team? That's what Kansas City Chiefs faithful are hoping this season as former head coach and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham has returned to revamp a defense that was one of the worst in the NFL and help Coach Dick Vermeil earn another Super Bowl ring.
Read more about the Kansas City Chiefs Preview.
College Football Recruiting
The following is an interview with Chuck Dekeado, a former Los Angeles business professional who served under legendary coach John McKay at the University of Southern California. Although he was never an official member of McKay's staff and was never on the USC payroll, he used his contacts in the LA-area sports scene to help bring in many top recruits - including O.J. Simpson - and help the Trojans to three national championships.
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Sports Betting Kiosks For Taverns Are Being Tested In Southern Nevada!
There may come a time in the near future when sports fans at almost any tavern in Nevada can get up from their hot wings and beer during half time of a game and saunter across the bar to place a half-time bet.
Read more about Nevada sports betting.
Value Can Be Found In NBA Totals
The NBA has long been known as one of the hardest sports for bettors to win money at. Since rosters are small and there are a manageable number of teams in the league, bookmakers have been releasing increasingly solid numbers year after year. It's no secret that pro hoops is consistently one of the top money makers for the sportsbooks.
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March Madness Picks
Are you thinking about betting March Madness but don't have the time to come up with winning March Madness picks that you can profit from? This year marks our 32nd year in business. We're proud to be recognized and one of the leaders and most trusted names in the sports handicapping industry. Over the years our basketball picks have been very profitable for our customers, especially during March Madness.
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Industry Profile: Steve Schoor, Harveys Lake Tahoe
As competitive as the Nevada sportsbook industry is, management must always come up with new ideas in order to attract customers. Steve Schoor, full-service games manager for the sportsbook at Harveys Lake Tahoe wanted to try something a little unconventional in an attempt to increase business at his sportsbook. He chose to make the Book the only non-smoking betting facility in the state. The decision, evidently, has paid off.
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Venerable Oddsmaking Firm, LVSC, Steers New Course Under Ken White
The relentless struggle for supremacy between bettors and bookmakers just took a turn for the worse if you're a player, but brightened considerably for those on the other side of the counter.
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Arena Football: A Whole Different Ballgame
Ever since the Arena Football League's debut in 1987, it has been widely viewed with skepticism by most NFL fans and football bettors in general. The game is played indoors on a field that is 85-feet wide and 50-yards long. Players, who are often too small or too slow to make it into the NFL, are required to play on both sides of the ball. Punting is not allowed.
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IP 'Props' Itself Above Super Bowl Competition
When Jay Kornegay began his career at the Imperial Palace Race & Sportsbook in the late 1980s, Las Vegas books generally had a only a handful of Super Bowl 'props' on their board as novelties for their customers. But times have clearly changed, as props are now big business, often making or breaking a book for the big game.
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A Betting Guide to the Super Bowl
I am going to take a little different approach in this month's column. Rather than talking about one particular subject, I will cover a wide variety of issues as they relate to the upcoming Super Bowl, in an effort to give bettors all the information they need.
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READY FOR FOOTBALL?
For the past 31 years our main focus has been to provide winning picks and expert handicapping advice. In addition to reliable sports information, we have always taken great pride in our integrity and the respect we have gained within the industry itself. It seems each season there are more and more hustlers and high pressure salespeople trying to make that fast buck. It has become even more of a problem with the Internet, which has allowed almost anyone to build an image basically overnight and call themselves a handicapping expert.
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The Bowl Season is Here
The Bowl Season is here and as in past years we find some interesting match-ups. No matter how this all finishes up, the National Champion will have one loss. If Southern Cal beats Michigan, a true National Champion will not be crowned, as either LSU or Oklahoma will also have one loss.
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Sportsbooks Get Into The Holiday Spirit
The holidays have always been a time of giving. And sportsbooks in Las Vegas and overseas also tend to get into the spirit during this time of year.
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True Odds Parlay
Last week I covered the workings of Fixed Odds parlays and this week I will finish the discussion on parlays by discussing how True Odds parlays are calculated.
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Smart Bettors Beat The Books By Following Small Conferences
The start of the college basketball season is one of the best times to get an edge on the books and following some of the lesser-known conferences can be very profitable, according to Las Vegas bookmakers.
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Expert Picks
There has always been one this missing from Doc's Sports in our 30+ years in the sports information and handicapping business - expert NBA selections. But now we have brought in one of the top services in the industry today, Vegas Sports Informants.
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Scouting The Small Conferences
Smart players have known for years that there is good money to be made betting the small conferences. Teams like Michigan, Arizona and Connecticut receive plenty of attention in the press and it's not hard to find a wealth of information about these teams just about anywhere you look.
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NFL Injuries
Handicappers and oddsmakers have very different opinions when it comes to the importance of injuries in the NFL. Some believe that this is one of the most crucial factors that goes into picking a game or setting a line, while others insist that the NFL is full of so many talented players that there isn't that big of a drop off in talent from first-string to second-string.
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Las Vegas Profile: Jamie Shea, Sportsbook Director For The Hard Rock Hotel
Most top managers at sportsbooks in Las Vegas took the traditional route to get where they are today. The typical manager or sportsbook director is a long-time sports bettor who came to Las Vegas to get involved in the "legitimate" betting industry or someone who came to the city to try their hand at professional sports betting before deciding to move over to the other side of the betting window.
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Bettors Can Beat The Sportsooks By Studying 'Totals'
Weekend warriors make up a high percentage of the betting public. Whether they are betting at the ticket window on a leisure trip to Las Vegas or placing a wager online with an offshore sportsbook, they typically like to play sides. But the savvy bettor can increase the chances of winning by studying and playing the 'overs' and 'unders,' or 'totals.'
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Shopping For Numbers Is Crucial
When it comes to betting on sports - especially football - shopping around for the best number is one of the biggest factors in being successful and making a profit. While most inexperienced bettors have the notion that all sportsbooks offer the same numbers, this is far from the truth. Each sportsbook has its own agenda, and sets its numbers accordingly. This gives the bettor many opportunities to get an edge. An extra half point can make the difference between winning and losing a bet, especially in the NFL where the lines have become increasingly solid over the years.
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The "FIX"
The "FIX" is in, or so they say. I have hear the word fix more in the past year, than in my entire lifetime. It all seemed to start with last years Wisconsin-UNLV game which took place here in Las Vegas. The Badgers opened a 3-point favorite, and bettors drove the number up to seven by kickoff.
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Oddsmakers 'Shade' Public Teams
Bettors are evidently just as fickle as the general public when it comes to college and pro football. When the St. Louis Rams made their remarkable rise to powerhouse status in the NFL a few years ago, 'fans' from all over the country began sporting Faulk and Warner jerseys - fresh from the shelves - that still had the fold creases showing on them.
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Sportsbook Profile: Palms/Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Although the sportsbook at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the Palms are much different in terms of the crowds that they attract -- The Hard Rock sportsbook caters to mostly tourists while locals comprise up to 70 percent of the Palms' sportsbook business - both casinos have one thing in common. They are both the hottest hotels in Las Vegas for young hipsters who want to be seen and who want to rub elbows with the many celebrities who frequent both establishments.
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Although Small In Stature, "The Shoe" Was Larger Than Life
Bill "The Shoe" Shoemaker will be memorialized on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PST at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. The Hall of Fame jockey died in his sleep Sunday at the age of 72 from natural causes. The memorial service, which will appropriately be held in the winner's circle, will be open to the public and will be attended by "everyone in the industry," according to a Santa Anita representative, as well as legions of racing fans.
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Need More Winners? Baseball Picks Still Available.
Whether you're a big fan or don't follow it at all, baseball is one of the best sports to make money, as it is one of the easiest to handicap.
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Software Company Receives Rave Reviews From LV Sportsbooks
For Nevada sportsbooks, there haven't been many options in the past when it came to choosing an operating system or upgrading their current one. Most sportsbook managers were pigeonholed into working with one company and forced to buy proprietary hardware from them or their partners. But now a San Diego-based technology company, VirtGame Corp., has created a sportsbook software solution it believes will be the wave of the future in Nevada.
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Anatomy Of A Point Spread Betting Line
For the purpose of this article, we have decided to examine two games: Arizona at Purdue in the NCAA and Cleveland at San Francisco in the NFL. We spoke with three bookmakers: Bob Scucci from the Stardust sportsbook, Bert Osborne from Coast Resorts and Rob Gillespie from BoDog sportsbook to find out how they set their betting line and where it went through the week.
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Caliente Sportsbook Offers Hidden Treasures For Bettors South Of The Border
Although sports bettors in Southern California and other U.S. towns that border Mexico are well aware of the Caliente Group and its expansive sportsbook offerings, much of America seems to be oblivious. There hasn't been much written on the private company that offers 60 sportsbooks to bettors, including many that are a short trek from cities such as San Diego; Tucson and Laredo, Texas. Caliente boasts 12 sportsbook locations in Tijuana alone, three of which accessible by a short walk across the San Ysidro border crossing.
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No Longer a Tease
Sharp players have learned the art of betting NFL two-team teasers, and Las Vegas books have taken notice.
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Las Vegas Profile: Bob Scucci, Race & Sportsbook Manager For The Stardust
Bob Scucci learned much of what he knows about the sports betting industry at one of the most unlikely places: the family dinner table. That's because both his mother and father worked in Las Vegas sportsbooks
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Las Vegas Profile: Casino MonteLago Sportsbook; Manager Robert Terch
Getting a new sportsbook up and running is never an easy task. With all the competition in the Southern Nevada marketplace and the explosion of offshore gaming, sportsbook managers have to be creative in attracting customers to new establishments.
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Looking Ahead Can Yield Positive Results
There are many aspects to successful handicapping and bettors are always looking for that perfect formula. When doing research, many people focus on injuries and evaluate talent while dissecting the line to find weakness in the bookmakers number. Although all these factors are very important, I have had a tremendous amount of success using the "look ahead" theory. This theory involves looking two or three weeks into the schedule and finding a team who is really vulnerable to get beat because of a flat spot or a complete opposite where a team will be highly motivated to get a big win.
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Youth Movement
by Jeremy Martin
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club head honcho aims to introduce horse racing to a younger audience.
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Las Vegas Profile: John Kelly, Host of the Stardust Line Radio Show
John Kelly has his finger on the pulse of the Las Vegas sports betting industry. As the host of the Stardust Line radio show, broadcast live from the hotel/casino of the same name, Kelly regularly talks strategy with the most prominent movers and shakers in the business. Despite the popularity of his show, Kelly hasn't forgotten why he originally came to the city that glitters.
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