SUPER BOWL
Yes/no props on various teams to win the Super Bowl (odds from LuckyÕs Race and Sports Book):
Yes/No
Patriots: plus 450/minus 600
Steelers: plus 900/minus 1300
Giants: plus 1200/minus 1800
Eagles: plus 1300/minus 1850
Ravens: plus 2200/minus 3500
Cowboys: plus 1800/minus 2500
Chargers: plus 1100/minus 1600
Bears: plus 1400/minus 1900
Vikings: plus 1800/minus 2500
Colts: plus 1800/minus 2500
Packers: plus 2800/minus 3800
Saints: plus 2300/minus 3300
Falcons: plus 2600/minus 3600
Cardinals: plus 2700/minus 3700
49ers: plus 3000/minus 4000
More info: ÒPoker Wisdom of a Champion:Ó gamblersbook.com or cardozabooks.com
Every so often, sports gamblers or oddsmakers make a push for Òyes/noÓ betting lines as the wave of the future.
Or future books, as it were.
That means gamblers should have the opportunity not only to bet on a particular team to win its championship game, but also to bet the team will not do so, at a reasonable price.
By all accounts, yes/no propositions serve as a good tool to keep the odds honest. For example, if you donÕt like the Patriots to win the Super Bowl at plus 300 (risk $1 to net $3), perhaps you should be able to bet they will not win the Super Bowl at, say, minus 450 (risk $4.50 to net $1).
Attempting to establish yes/no props as the new industry standard has been a slow haul to say the least. But a few green shoots have appeared in this area.
Two of the most prominent recent examples in Las Vegas have come at the M Resort, which offers yes/no props on baseballÕs division and league pennant winners; and at all LuckyÕs sports books, which offer yes/no props on a selection of college and pro football teams to win their respective championships.
At the M, for instance, the Dodgers were recently installed as a plus 200 choice to win the National League pennant — but bettors also have the option of playing the ÒnoÓ side (the Dodgers will not win the NL pennant) at minus 230. Also in the NL, the Cubs were listed at plus 190 to win the NL Central and minus 210 not to do so.
In American League division-title props, the Red Sox were installed at plus 155 to win the AL East (minus 175 on the ÒnoÓ side); the Yankees were minus 150 to win the AL East (plus 130 on the ÒnoÓ); and the Tigers were plus 130 to win the AL Central (minus 150 on the ÒnoÓ).
(As always, odds can and do change by the minute — especially on something so fluid as baseball division-winner lines.)
At LuckyÕs, yes/no lines on the Super Bowl winner range from plus 450/minus 600 on the Patriots to plus 3000/minus 4000 on the 49ers. In other words, if you want to bet that the 49ers will not win the Super Bowl, you risk $40 to win $1.
Fight odds
Manny Pacquiao has been installed as a betting favorite of minus 250 (risk $2.50 to net $1) against Miguel Cotto in their 145-pound showdown scheduled for Nov.Ê14 at MGM Grand.
The price on Cotto is plus 210 (risk $1 to net $2.10) at most Las Vegas sports books.
The round proposition has been set at over/under 9 rounds. PacquiaoÕs three most recent fights have ended in stoppages against Ricky Hatton (Round 2), Oscar De La Hoya (Round 8) and David Diaz (Round 9).
The odds on Pacquiao to beat Cotto roughly mirror the line on his fight against Hatton, in which the price on Pacquiao ranged from around 2-1 to as high as minus 270. Pacquiao was around a 2-1 underdog against De La Hoya.
Cotto is coming off a split-decision victory against Joshua Clottey in which Cotto was a minus 340 favorite.
In his lone loss, to Antonio Margarito in 2008, Cotto was bet up from a minus 170 favorite to a minus 270 favorite. Local handicapper Dave Cokin made a good call on that fight, recommending Margarito as an underdog of plus 200 or higher.
Book it
When a copy of Doyle BrunsonÕs ÒPoker Wisdom of a ChampionÓ recently landed on my desk, I was reminded the book contains some of the best poker anecdotes ever written.
Titled ÒAccording to DoyleÓ when it was first published in 1984, the book is back in print in a new edition from Cardoza Publishing (208 pages, $14.95).
Anyone who has read the book will never forget the chapter titled ÒLetting the Dog Die.Ó Here are the bare bones of the story:
In the 1960s Brunson played in a deuce-to-7 lowball game that a guy named Sam hosted in the basement of his home. In a breach of home-game poker etiquette, if Sam won a lot of money early in the game he would quit, usually offering an outrageous but transparent excuse.
One night, Sam was a big winner when he leaned back in his chair and banged a water pipe with his beer can. The other players suspected something was up and were not surprised when SamÕs wife came downstairs. Their dog, Ruffian, had suddenly become deathly ill, she said. An emergency trip to the vet was in order.
So Sam announced he would play only one more hand. Of course, he lost everything in a huge pot with the second best possible hand (7-6-4-3-2) to BrunsonÕs unbeatable 7-5-4-3-2. His wife, unaware of this catastrophic loss, stuck to the script and kept bugging Sam to quit the game to go to the vet and tend to the ÒsickÓ dog. (It was obvious her cue was the pipe banging.)
Sam, who had already bought back into the game and was trying to win his money back, finally lost his patience and yelled, ÒLook, Linda, get out of here and let the dog die!Ó
From then on, any time a player had to leave a poker game, someone else would say, ÒAh, donÕt quit. Just let the dog die.Ó
Back in the pre-Moneymaker days, when the poker world was more insular and anything by Brunson was akin to a sacred text, I would occasionally hear this phrase in Las Vegas poker rooms. IÕm not so sure todayÕs breed of player would catch the reference.
Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or at haney@lasvegassun.com.
Copyright 2009  Las Vegas Sun
