They actually think we're good....!!!
i was only up by +2.00 untis this season...what did i do
wrong????
Stick it to the books with the NHL
By Jon Campbell
The next time you head to Las Vegas intent on cashing in on basketball or football, you might want to think about betting the NHL instead.
"Hockey numbers are terrible. There is no question about it. Horrible," says Dave Sanchilli, sportsbook manager at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino located next to the Paris on the Strip in Vegas.
While recently in Las Vegas, Bill Organ (Covers' Director of Operations), and I noticed every day the hockey numbers seemed too good to be true.
"What's with the Flames +150 when they're getting a half-goal against the Kings," we said one day. And "Man, Minnesota looks tempting at plus-1/2-goal +130 against Dallas," we commented on another.
Sure enough, the next day we'd wake up only to see our instincts were right and the teams that looked appealing to us were covering like a blanket.
Unfortunately, we missed out on a heap of money because we were there to write about and bet on college basketball, not the frozen pond. Which is actually what the sportsbooks are banking on during March Madness. We only bet on one game during our stay, and we would have left with bigger smiles on our faces had we stuck with it.
On our third day there, we met with Sanchilli and asked him what the story was with hockey.
"I'll be the first one to admit it. We are not on top of it," he said. "I am definitely not qualified or knowledgeable enough, or enough of a hockey fan to know what the numbers should be. I just know it's a bad number."
Like most of the other sportsbook managers we spoke with, Sanchilli was up front with every question we shot at him. So I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I heard him admit the public can use Vegas books for a mint if they know hockey.
He said the reason for the bad lines - besides a lack of knowledge - is the numbers don't usually change. Oddsmakers in Vegas often set their hockey lines at 6:00 in the morning on the assumption that a certain goalie is going to play, or that teams will have a full lineup.
Anyone who follows hockey can tell you NHL coaches change their starting goalies and lineups more often than most people change socks - and the line rarely adjusts accordingly.
"In baseball, if you find out a pitcher isn't starting, you take the number down. In hockey, you just blow it off."
Apparently the 'Coolest Game on Earth' isn't so hot with bettors. But the ones who are betting hockey aren't really bothered.
You won't find too many dumbies slapping down a couple dimes on a Penguins game just for the puck of it.
"A lot of it's smart. There is a lot of smart action on hockey," says Sanchilli. "A lot of these guys sitting up there (in the sportsbook) betting NCAA parlays aren't saying: 'O.K., let's throw in some hockey games'. That's not happening.
"The guys that are playing hockey know what they're doing. They're studying it and they know what the numbers should be. And they come out here and see that we have a number up and..... they come in and play it. And if they're making their bet at (game) time, they have the advantage."
Sanchilli, who used to work with Jimmy Vaccaro at the Golden Nugget before moving to the Strip, says hockey betting is one of the biggest changes he's seen "over the last couple of years". He says certain people come in for a weekend, bet hockey, make a killing and come back for more down the road when they're finished sipping marguaritas on a tropical beach somewhere.
Which is exactly what Bill and I should have done. Instead, we left Las Vegas feeling as square as a pan of Grandma's double fudge brownies.
"Guys are winning 10 out of 12 bets in hockey.... And they're not wise guys - just guys who are doing their homework. For somebody right now, betting-wise, you definitely have an advantage if you study and learn hockey because we are not on top of it and that's the bottom line."
i was only up by +2.00 untis this season...what did i do
wrong????
Stick it to the books with the NHL
By Jon Campbell
The next time you head to Las Vegas intent on cashing in on basketball or football, you might want to think about betting the NHL instead.
"Hockey numbers are terrible. There is no question about it. Horrible," says Dave Sanchilli, sportsbook manager at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino located next to the Paris on the Strip in Vegas.
While recently in Las Vegas, Bill Organ (Covers' Director of Operations), and I noticed every day the hockey numbers seemed too good to be true.
"What's with the Flames +150 when they're getting a half-goal against the Kings," we said one day. And "Man, Minnesota looks tempting at plus-1/2-goal +130 against Dallas," we commented on another.
Sure enough, the next day we'd wake up only to see our instincts were right and the teams that looked appealing to us were covering like a blanket.
Unfortunately, we missed out on a heap of money because we were there to write about and bet on college basketball, not the frozen pond. Which is actually what the sportsbooks are banking on during March Madness. We only bet on one game during our stay, and we would have left with bigger smiles on our faces had we stuck with it.
On our third day there, we met with Sanchilli and asked him what the story was with hockey.
"I'll be the first one to admit it. We are not on top of it," he said. "I am definitely not qualified or knowledgeable enough, or enough of a hockey fan to know what the numbers should be. I just know it's a bad number."
Like most of the other sportsbook managers we spoke with, Sanchilli was up front with every question we shot at him. So I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I heard him admit the public can use Vegas books for a mint if they know hockey.
He said the reason for the bad lines - besides a lack of knowledge - is the numbers don't usually change. Oddsmakers in Vegas often set their hockey lines at 6:00 in the morning on the assumption that a certain goalie is going to play, or that teams will have a full lineup.
Anyone who follows hockey can tell you NHL coaches change their starting goalies and lineups more often than most people change socks - and the line rarely adjusts accordingly.
"In baseball, if you find out a pitcher isn't starting, you take the number down. In hockey, you just blow it off."
Apparently the 'Coolest Game on Earth' isn't so hot with bettors. But the ones who are betting hockey aren't really bothered.
You won't find too many dumbies slapping down a couple dimes on a Penguins game just for the puck of it.
"A lot of it's smart. There is a lot of smart action on hockey," says Sanchilli. "A lot of these guys sitting up there (in the sportsbook) betting NCAA parlays aren't saying: 'O.K., let's throw in some hockey games'. That's not happening.
"The guys that are playing hockey know what they're doing. They're studying it and they know what the numbers should be. And they come out here and see that we have a number up and..... they come in and play it. And if they're making their bet at (game) time, they have the advantage."
Sanchilli, who used to work with Jimmy Vaccaro at the Golden Nugget before moving to the Strip, says hockey betting is one of the biggest changes he's seen "over the last couple of years". He says certain people come in for a weekend, bet hockey, make a killing and come back for more down the road when they're finished sipping marguaritas on a tropical beach somewhere.
Which is exactly what Bill and I should have done. Instead, we left Las Vegas feeling as square as a pan of Grandma's double fudge brownies.
"Guys are winning 10 out of 12 bets in hockey.... And they're not wise guys - just guys who are doing their homework. For somebody right now, betting-wise, you definitely have an advantage if you study and learn hockey because we are not on top of it and that's the bottom line."
