Gambling and College Football: Part One

What better place to talk gambling and college football than Las Vegas. I recently made the trip to talk to the sports gurus at several of the Vegas casinos. 

The following interviews are with various Las Vegas sports book casino personnel. Even though most said it would be ok to use their names, three of them asked that I did not. Out of respect for them, I won’t use their names in this article.

Q: So, how much action goes on in college football? 

A: What we see here in the casinos is just a drop in the ocean. Most of the money is bet with bookies around the country. There’s probably a dozen in even the smallest of towns across the U.S.

Q: So, what’s the most common bet?

A: You can bet on anything, such as the eventual national champion. But most of the bets are on the weekly games themselves. 

Q: So, who generally gets the most money, the ones who bet for a team or against a team?

A1: Usually Notre Dame gets a lot of action, and so does USC because we are close to California and have a lot of their fans and haters coming in.

A2: Teams in the top 10 usually have the most money bet on them.

A3: Big rivalry games get a lot of action.

Q: Do you think all the money being bet can cause someone to “help things out” with bribes or something else?

A1: Usual answer—No

A2: Of course! For enough money or other reasons, a pass could be dropped or a field goal missed. I’m sure it’s happened.

A3: Well, not from us of course, we don’t care who wins or loses. We get a cut no matter what. But from the big betters themselves, I’m sure there’s an incident every season where at least one or two things that went on, considering the sheer scope of college football.

Q: On which sport does the most money change hands: football, baseball, and basketball?

A: Football(though other sports have more games, football gets larger bets).

Q: Why?

A: There are passionate fans in every sport, but football just has a lot more emotion in it, and people put their money where their heart is. And, everybody thinks they are an expert at football.

Q: Is there a typical better?

A1: No, everyone comes in and bets. I’ve had real nuns and priest come and bet, and not just for Notre Dame.

A2: Mostly men, but you have all types. I have an elderly lady that comes in at the start of every season and places $20 on Wake Forest to win the National Championship. One year she was upset because there were no odds posted for them to win it, so our manager gave her 200-to-1 odds and a ticket. That’s not bad considering there aren’t even 100 teams eligible.

A3: Yes, the most common better is a man 25 to 50 years of age.

Q: What’s the biggest bet you’ve ever taken?

A: Me personally, $125,000 on this year’s BCS Game.

Q: Who did they bet on?

A: Florida. I think they were three point favorites and won by 10. I wasn’t here when he came in to collect. 

Q: So this guy walks in with $125,000 in cash?

A: No, a certified cashier’s check. We called and it was good.

Q: Was he paid in cash or by check?

A: By a check from our casino, but it's 25 percent less with the Federal withholding tax. It came to around $93,750 I think.

Q: Wow, I forgot about taxes. So if he wins, he just wins 75 percent, but if he loses, he loses 100 percent?

A: Yeah, sad but true. On any large bet, the government gets their share on all legally placed bets. Your local bookie will never report you to the IRS though (laughing). But then on a bet that large, you may never get paid either.

Q: Do you take bets from people who are drunk?

A1: Reasonable ones.

A2. No.

A3: Depends on how drunk.

Q: What’s the wildest football bet you’ve been asked for yet?

A: We were asked what the odds were that Charlie Weis would die of a heart attack before the end of the season. We didn’t have any odds on that and didn’t take the bet.

There are more questions and answers for a later time, until then, keep your money in your pocket and your eyes on the field.