LAS VEGAS: Overflow crowds expected to flock to local sports books

[clevfan]

Thursday, March 17, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Overflow crowds expected to flock to local sports books

By MATT YOUMANS
REVIEW-JOURNAL


Only one thing can top the atmosphere of attending an NCAA Tournament game, and that's watching all the games from a seat in a Las Vegas sports book.

Any doubters should survey the scene this weekend. Every casino in the city will see standing-room-only crowds, with fans lining up to reserve seats hours before the first game tips off at 9:20 a.m. today.

Behind the fun and games is the bottom line. The economic impact of the three-week basketball tournament for sports books is second only to the Super Bowl. Business is growing, too.

"It does get bigger and bigger every year," Caesars Palace sports book director Chuck Esposito said. "The crowds are just phenomenal."

A total of 48 games will be played today through Sunday, the excitement of it all luring a young crowd that turns it into a Spring Break-like weekend in Las Vegas.

An estimated 287,000 people visited for the Super Bowl in early February, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. This weekend's visitor count will be similar, as some room rates on the Strip soar close to $500 per night.

A record of just under $90.8 million was wagered on the Super Bowl at Nevada sports books. The NCAA Tournament's 63 games will bring in parallel betting totals.

"My guess is $80 (million) to $90 million in its entirety," Mirage sports book director Robert Walker said. "That $90.8 million for the Super Bowl is unprecedented. I hesitate to say we will exceed that."

Frank Streshley, the Nevada Gaming Control Board's statistical analyst, said no exact numbers are collected for NCAA Tournament wagering. But by comparing the total basketball handle from February, March and April 2004, an estimated $85 million was wagered on the tournament.

"I know from talking to the (casino) operators, more people are coming to Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe and making a four-day trip out of it," Streshley said of the tournament's opening weekend.

The amount wagered illegally across the country and at offshore books far surpasses legal wagering in Nevada, but there is no understating the business boost the NCAA Tournament gives Las Vegas.

"No doubt, it's our busiest four-day period of the year," Walker said.

The sports books write "substantially more tickets" on the basketball tournament than the Super Bowl, Walker said, but the NFL's title game attracts more big-money bettors.

"We don't take the $500,000 or $1 million bets on this," Walker said. "For the most part, it's younger people coming out with $2,000 and trying to make that last."

Esposito said although Caesars has one of the largest books on the Strip, he needs to bring in extra seating, and the crowd will still be overflowing.

"People are camping out the night before to get their seats," Esposito said. "It's a lively crowd from early in the morning to late at night."

Finding the right spot to view the games -- free of charge on big-screen TVs, of course -- can be a challenge, so here are some tips:

• Casino Monte Lago -- It's about a 30-minute drive from the Strip to this Lake Las Vegas resort, but well worth the trip.

• Hard Rock Hotel -- The doors to 200-seat Festival Hall will open at 8 a.m. The room offers a bar, betting station, food specials and blackjack and craps tables.

• Las Vegas Hilton -- About 300 seats will be available in the Shimmer Cabaret, which usually hosts the "Aussie Angels" topless show. The bad news is the girls won't be there.

• MGM Grand -- The new 5,300-square-foot race and sports book, located near the Studio 54 nightclub with direct access to the Strip, opens today. The sports book has 44 plasma televisions. Four second-level skyboxes can be rented daily.

• Orleans -- It's probably a secret to most tourists, but the Mardi Gras ballroom will be open with seating for about 500.


NCAA TOURNAMENT PROPOSITION BETS

All props posted at the Las Vegas Hilton sports book:

• TOURNAMENT WINS BY: Atlantic Coast Conference teams (North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Georgia Tech, N.C. State):

Over 11 1/2minus-160

Under 11 1/2plus-130

• TOURNAMENT WINS BY: Big East teams (Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh, West Virginia):

Over 8 1/2minus-150

Under 8 1/2plus-120

• TOURNAMENT WINS BY: Big Ten teams (Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa):

Over 7 1/2minus-140

Under 7 1/2plus-110

• TOURNAMENT WINS BY: Big 12 teams (Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Iowa State, Texas Tech):

Over 8 1/2minus-130

Under 8 1/2Even

• TOURNAMENT WINS BY: Conference USA teams (Louisville, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Alabama-Birmingham):

Over 3 1/2Even

Under 3 1/2minus-130

• TOURNAMENT WINS BY: Pacific-10 teams (Arizona, UCLA, Washington, Stanford):

Over 4 1/2minus-160

Under 4 1/2plus-130

• TOURNAMENT WINS BY: Southeastern Conference teams (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi State, Kentucky):

Over 5 1/2minus-140

Under 5 1/2plus-110

• TOURNAMENT WINS BY: West Coast Conference teams

(Gonzaga, St. Mary's):

Over 2 1/2plus-110

Under 2 1/2minus-140


• Total No. 1-seeded teams to reach the Final Four (Illinois, North Carolina, Duke, Washington):

Over 1 1/2minus-180

Under 1 1/2plus-150


• Most NCAA Tournament wins:

ILLINOISEven

NORTH CAROLINAminus-130

--------

OKLAHOMA STATEminus-180

KENTUCKYplus-150

--------

FLORIDAplus-105

SYRACUSEminus-135

--------

DUKEminus-130

WAKE FORESTEven

--------

UTAHminus-115

PITTSBURGHminus-115


• Will a No. 13 seed win at least one game? (Ohio, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Louisiana-Lafayette):

Yesminus-145

Noplus-115

• Will Fairleigh Dickinson ever have the lead vs. Illinois?

Yesminus-150

Noplus-120

• Will Delaware State ever have the lead vs. Duke?

Yesminus-150

Noplus-120

• Largest margin of victory in any first-round game:

Over 37 1/2minus-115

Under 37 1/2minus-115



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[victorygallop]

I used to go out every year for the tourney.

it is too crazy to do business out there.