Posts by RJ Bell

November 6, 2013
Vegas Weekend Recap: Don’t Touch That Dial

Sports bettors watch football differently, and the ending of Sunday night’s game was an especially telling example of this fact. All viewers were glued to their TV sets when Andrew Luck threw the go-ahead touchdown with four minutes left. But then the two types of viewers diverged. Non-bettors were still talking about the pass, checking […]
October 30, 2013
Vegas Weekend Recap: How Times Have Changed

The sports world was buzzing on Sunday after the Lions’ last-second comeback win against the Cowboys. The final touchdown didn’t affect the point spread, since Dallas was a 3-point underdog and lost by only one. A decade ago, that would have meant the ending had no significant gambling consequence. But things have changed.
October 23, 2013
Vegas Weekend Recap: The Patriots Send Bettors Chasing All Day

Las Vegas commentators often stress how much the public loves to bet favorites. It’s not so much that the public prefers to lay points, but rather that it loves to back the better team — and if the better team is getting points, that’s just icing on the cake. College football polls act as shortcuts, […]
October 16, 2013
Vegas Weekend Recap: A Bright Spot on a Bleak College Football Weekend

Bettors suffered their worst loss of the football season this past weekend. When talking to bookmakers in the aftermath, I didn’t really sense joy, but rather lingering irritation that it took so long to book their first monster win. Bettors throwing darts and laying 11-10 will lose 4.76 percent of money bet in the long […]
October 9, 2013
Vegas Weekend Recap: Ohio State’s $100 Million Cover

Bettors watching games at Vegas sportsbooks tend to go wild in response to the smallest successes (such as getting a first down in the second quarter). Some combination of the booze, cash, lack of sleep, and location strips away society’s niceties. The intensity skyrockets when a single play decides the bet’s outcome. In the time […]
October 2, 2013
Vegas Weekend Recap: Could Alabama Beat Jacksonville?

“Jacksonville is the worst NFL team I have ever seen,” says Golden Nugget bookmaker Aaron Kessler. Not many people in Vegas disagree. Nine-point underdogs at home last week against the Colts, the Jags were supported by an extremely positive trend: Home-team underdogs of more than eight points had covered 23 of 25 against the spread. […]
September 25, 2013
Vegas Weekend Recap: The Boys in the Desert

Many rightly fawn over the accuracy of the betting market. It’s the stuff that memes like “Vegas knows” are made of. But the “boys in the desert” exceeded even the most outsize expectations this week in college football, with the point spread favorite winning 55 of 57 games. Las Vegas was right picking the winner […]
September 18, 2013
Vegas Weekend Recap: Johnny Football and a Boxing Judge

Last weekend we had a major boxing match, a huge college football game, and a full slate of NFL games, including one of the most anticipated clashes of the regular season. The consensus estimate is that Vegas saw a 50 percent increase in sports betting handle, compared to the same week last year. That’s huge, […]
September 11, 2013
Vegas Weekend Football Recap: The Bettors Get Crushed

“I have been in this business since 2000, and this was one of the best NFL kickoffs sportsbooks have experienced,” said Sportsbook.ag’s Mike Perry. And he said that before the favored Texans failed to cover on Monday night against the Chargers — the biggest win of the week for more than a few books. Yes, […]
September 5, 2013
The Official Grantland Super Bowl Odds: Helping You Spend Your Money Since, Well, Today

The 2013 NFL season is finally here. That means it’s time to talk about football, fantasy, and of course, gambling. In an effort to reduce the inconsistent numbers floating around due to the existence of so many viable sportsbooks, we’re unveiling the Official Grantland Super Bowl Odds. We considered multiple sportsbooks in assembling these odds, […]

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