понедельник, 17 сентября 2012 г.

TWO-POINT CONVERSION HITS BOOKMAKERS IN LAS VEGAS.(Sports) - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

This city's legal bookies were a two-point conversion away from their biggest Super Bowl win ever.

As it turned out, there weren't too many winners on either side of the betting window after a Super Bowl that ended exactly how Las Vegas bookmakers predicted - with Green Bay a 14-point winner.

``If it wasn't for that two-point conversion it would have been the biggest win in Nevada bookmaking history,'' said Michael ``Roxy'' Roxborough, who sets the lines for Nevada sports books. ``We would have won $20 million at least, maybe $25 million.''

Instead, most bettors lined up after the game either to get their original bet back or to collect, if they were lucky enough to get the game either at 13 1/2 or 14 1/2 points.

``We have the world's largest lines in front of the cashier's window,'' Roxborough said after the game. ``You are either getting your money back or you won.''

Before anyone starts feeling too sorry for bookmakers, however, Roxborough said they were likely to end up with a small profit overall because bettors lost big on the so-called ``prop'' bets and parlay cards.

Since ties lose on most parlay cards, anyone combining the 14-point spread with, say, the over-under, was a loser.

If Green Bay would have kicked the extra point on its last touchdown, though, instead of making the two-point conversion that made it a final 14-point win, bookmakers would have had a huge payday.

The Packers winning by 13 points would have been the best scenario for sports books that had heavy Packer action at 14 points.

``We would have overcome everything bad we've done the last five years,'' Roxborough said. ``It would have been the trifecta for us, with the Pats covering, the game over (49 points total) and the Packers winning.''

At the Holiday Inn Boardwalk, assistant manager Kevin Roberts said the book would have to make up for losses on the game itself with the proposition bets and parlays.

``It was absolutely the worst possible number it could have landed on,'' Roberts said. ``You try to make a number close to the number you think it will be to get two-way action. But this is a case of getting middled and that's every bookmaker's nightmare.''

Roxborough, though, predicted a small profit for books, but not on the lines of the $7 million they won on $70.9 million in bets last year.

Not that he's expecting any sympathy from bettors. ``Nobody cares if bookmakers win except me and their wives,'' Roxborough said. ``Everybody hates bookmakers.''