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Columnist Buzz Daly: Sports Book Scene

On the first Sunday in September, the usual suspects convened at sports books throughout Las Vegas to savor the moment they had all been waiting for with hungry anticipation during the long hot summer - the kickoff of football.

Saturday was busy in the books, but Sunday was standing room only as bettors, flush with plump, virgin bankrolls, streamed up to the counters. Of course, all over the U.S., illegal bookies were also swinging into action.

According to G&J Update (www.gjupdate.com), a local line service that handles customers and stores from outside Vegas, the day was a standoff for these players and bookies.

In the biggest action games of the day, the public scored with East Carolina -10½ as it romped over Duke 38-0; and Oklahoma -28, as the Sooners had an easy 55-14 cover vs. UTEP.

The books got the cheese on Virginia Tech -32, which won but did not cover vs. Akron (52-23), and Colorado -4½, who lost outright to Colorado State.

Sunday started off like a blowout for the public as it clicked on several NFL games, including the Ravens -3 in a 16-0 defeat of the Steelers, Tampa Bay's exciting 21-16 cover as a 3-point favorite over New England, the Falcons -7 in a 36-28 shootout with San Francisco, and the Colts -3 at Kansas City, where visiting favorites have been known to falter. Not this time, as the Colts took a 27-14 victory.

The books made a comeback of sorts in the afternoon as heavily backed Oakland -7 was never in the lead vs. San Diego, and eked out a 9-6 ATS loss.

Dallas -6½, which was stomped by the visiting Eagles 41-14, blew out a vast number of teasers.

Sunday night the public got smoked as bettors drove the price down on Buffalo vs. the visiting Tennessee Titans, from -1½ to even, in a rematch of last year's exciting playoff game. The books needed the Bills big time, and even though its starting QB Rob Johnson was knocked out of the game late, the home team prevailed 16-13.

Off shore results were also felicitous for BMs. Here's an observation from a leading book: "The Rams missing that 2-point conversion Monday night was a difference here of almost $100,000! We needed Denver and the OVER, but we needed Denver to cover the 6½ HUGE! Missing that conversion was the difference!

"Book continues to do good. The players won pretty big on Saturday's college, but lost most of it back on Sunday and we cleaned up the balance PLUS some last night! Life is good!"

Winners and Losers. There is so much money paid to touts, it's no wonder they proliferate during football season. But most of the touts also give out free plays, which are available all over from score phones to newspapers to television.

Here in Vegas, there are also contests in which touts have an incentive to give out their best plays. They could win substantial prize money, not to mention more marketing hype for future ads.

The All Star Handicappers Contest at Sunset Station is one of the better contests. Each week, several of the dozen entrants show up to give their analysis along with the picks.

The show is broadcast live from the Sunset Station sports book every Friday night 6 to 7 PM over ESPN Radio 920 AM. Additionally, handouts are available after the shows that contain each handicapper's picks.

Opening week, of the 12 'cappers, only one had a losing record after the weekend selections were tallied. Three of them managed to go 5-1, including nailing their best bets. Those contestants were Bryan Leonard, Bob Donahue and Tim Trushel.

A Little Extra. For those who want something a little bizarre, but apparently also effective, here's a tip from a reader, Westislip, who sent in this suggestion.

"I bought a voice stress analyzer which is supposed to tell you if people lie. However, I am using it to see which quarterback is more stressed about the game.

"I put the voice stress analyzer up to the TV and listen to the pre-game PR (press release video clip), which is usually sent out on Tuesday or Wednesday before the game.

"The coach or quarterback gives their commentary, which is usually b.s. I watch the stress analyzer, and the coach or QB with more stress when they talk about the game is probably the team that ain't going to win.

"I mean, this is just a tool. I don't think it is going to be the end-all of predictions. But I do think it is going to be cool when I know which QB really isn't going to get any sleep because of worrying about the game."

We'd be interested in hearing what the results are, or of getting some projections before the games are played.

Fantasy Reminder. If you play fantasy football, we're doing an audio show with Vegas Insider Stephen Nover that gives insight, tips and strategies to fantasy players.

It's heard live on Thursdays from 2 to 2:30 PM at www.audiovegas.com, after which it is archived at the site. Nover is a perennial winner in the leagues in which he plays and has lots of useful tips that can help a player win his league.

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