Sportsbook Scene, by Buzz Daly 9/18

[Dr. Jack]

Sportsbook Scene, by Buzz Daly
September 18, 2002


Parity-Driven NFL Ensures
Every Dog Shall Have Its Day



The NFL's relentless quest for parity, in order to uphold the league's time-honored cliché in which any team on any given Sunday (blah, blah, blah), has kicked in with a vengeance as last week's results could best be described by the old movie title, "Dog Day Afternoon".

Bettors at Las Vegas sportsbooks seemed to be on a few more doggies than usual, if the decibel count at crowded bet shops is a true indicator. We visited a couple of casinos but viewed most of the day's action from Green Valley Ranch's comfortable book, where the Green Bay Packers' faithful were especially noisy in a losing cause.

Ten out of 14 games were won by the team getting points, and even at this early juncture it would appear the race is underway between oddsmakers and bettors to identify value teams. There is a widening gap between the pretenders and the contenders.

The Indianapolis Colts had more bettors cheering them on than their opponent, the Miami Dolphins. But in a graphic display of why Colts coach Tony Dungy has earned a reputation as a destroyer of offenses, he blew a golden scoring opportunity when a TD could have put the Colts back in the game.

Trailing 21-3 in the third quarter, a 33-yard pass from Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison put the Colts on the Miami two-yard line. Reverting to the pitiful form that got him fired in Tampa Bay, Dungy ran his stud, Edgerrin James, into a defensive firewall on four consecutive downs and saw him get stuffed, whether he ran inside or outside.

Most of the early games lacked drama, as the S/U and ATS winners were decided relatively early.

The home dog Falcons gave the Bears a little flurry of action, trying to overcome a 14-13 deficit.

But Dan Reeves masterminded his Falcons into defeat when he had them run two conservative plays after reaching the Bears' 28-yard line, and settled for a 45-yard field goal attempt. It was wide left, and gave Atlanta a well earned 0-2 mark.

Two of the late games had more drama, including one that was absolutely infused with nail-biting tension.

The Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings went at each other like two pit bulls arguing over one lamb chop. Tied 13-13 at the half, the Bills went ahead 36-32 on a Drew Bledsoe TD pass, with 4:19 left in the game, but the two-point conversion failed.

That score had no prayer of standing, and Minny took a 39-36 lead with :24 left in the game.

The Bills drove for the best field position they could get, and with no time left on the clock, Mike Hollis nailed a 54-yard field goal that hit the cross bar and bounced over, to send the game into overtime.

Bledsoe led the Bills on the opening drive in OT down to the Vike 20-yard line. But instead of calling for the field goal, head coach Gregg Williams got greedy and lost yardage on a pass play. The ensuing 45-yard field goal was missed.

Minnesota then went three and out. This time Bledsoe & Co. wasted no time in going for the win. A 48-yard TD pass to Peerless Price put Minny out of its misery, 45-39. It also brought a roar of approval from Bills backers who were laying 3½ points, and dreading a non-cover field goal victory, which had seemed quite likely.

The New York Giants teed it up vs. the St. Louis Rams, and didn't have a chance, according to oddsmakers who had the Rams at anywhere from 11 ½ to 13 point favorites.

After the Giants jumped out to a 17-7 halftime lead, head coach Jim Fassel called conservative plays that earned three field goals and no TDs in the second half. He nearly blew the game, but a stout Giants defense refused to fold, and the Giants held on for a 26-21 victory.

For those planning to come to Vegas and watch the games from a book, be advised that you should be there at least an hour before kickoff to get a seat.

Even more important than seating is the need to get in your plays. By 8:30 AM (Pacific time), the lines in most bet shops are very long. It behooves bettors to get there early or risk getting shut out.

It is a common sight to see long lines of bettors, many of whom have no prayer of getting down, frantically filling out parlay cards while awaiting to get to a ticket window. And in Las Vegas, home of the squares, the betting lines are populated with rocket scientists who ask anyone within earshot such probing questions as, "Who's the quarterback for the Chargers?"

We realize that many of these players are casual/recreational bettors who gamble for fun, but we would like to remind them that winning is more fun than losing.



Segue to Sunday Update



The handicapping show we do with Stephen Nover each week on the Internet, Segue to Sunday, saw both of our picks go south last week. Nover's selection of Bengals +4 vs. Cleveland left him at 0-2 for the season. Our pick of the woeful Redskins +3 on Monday night left us at 1-1.

The show is sponsored by betpci.com, and features analysis and a selection by Nover, whose picks are for sale at Vegas Insider. It is streamed live at 11 AM Thursdays (PT) at rgtonline.com as well as betpci.com, majorwager.com and theprescription.com. If you can't hear it live, the show is archived at Audio Vegas (audiovegas.com).



New Funds Transfer Option for Offshore Bettors



If there is an unwanted missive from a bettor's offshore book, it is one that goes like this: "Please be advised that as of 8/28/02, PayPal will no longer process your transaction for online sports betting …"

Of course, PayPal is only one of several heretofore readily accepted funding methods used by offshore books, whose services are becoming an endangered species.

For a variety of reasons, not the least of which is a hard nudge by the U.S. government, many American financial institutions are phasing out convenient ways for bettors to fund gaming accounts.

But when one door closes, another usually opens. And so a prominent offshore gaming company is claiming to have implemented the solution to this vexing problem.

Bodog Sportsbook & Casino (Bodog.com" target="_blank">www.Bodog.com), is unaffected by the PayPal defection, thanks to its exclusive Direct Bank Transfer withdrawal and deposit method, advises Rob Gillespie, operations manager.

The Vancouver-based company, with bookmaking facilities in Costa Rica, "is revolutionizing the sportsbook industry making life simple for all of its players with Direct Bank Transfer," he stated.

Players who were using PayPal will continue to function without any hindrance by having the option of same-day withdrawals and deposits directly to or from their personal bank account, Gillespie added.

When PayPal told the industry it didn't want to do business with the gaming industry, after its acquisition by Ebay, it left many books without a viable alternative of transferring funds to an from players, Gillespie noted.

Bodog also accepts the Discover card, and was one of the few offshore books, "that was prepared for the day the big third-party eCash companies pulled out of the business.

"We are the only sportsbook that has a full-scale eCom operation in house, and goes to the expense of replicating every payment method the eCash companies offer so that we are not at the mercy of their policy positions," Gillespie asserted.

As a company that has always been strictly a postup operation, and one that has never relied on or solicited credit customers, Bodog is especially committed to providing a smooth, convenient funds transfer pipeline for clients.

The company feels that its DBT system has built in money management so players do not get ahead of themselves.

With a management team that is youthful and stable, Bodog is proud of its innovative technology, and how the applications are user friendly.

As more gaming companies follow Bodog's lead and start finding alternatives to traditional funding methods, players will reap the benefits.

All bettors look forward to the day when the U.S. government cannot send a chilling letter to a financial services organization and have it cooperate by cutting out Internet gaming companies from using its business.

Or is that wishful thinking?

Please send questions, comments, etc., to Buzzdaly@aol.com.

[dopeslayer]

buzz daly said this:

It also brought a roar of approval from Bills backers who were laying 3½ points, and dreading a non-cover field goal victory, which had seemed quite likely.

hey buzz...where did they bet this game?...in buffalo...cause here in vegas i was gettin 5 points