Sports books hail break in impasse

Las Vegas oddsmakers and sports book operators say that the settlement of the NBA lockout at this time bodes well for Nevada's lucrative sports betting industry, which had been facing a major lull after the football season.

"It's good news because it brings everything up to snuff again," said Pete Korner, operations manager and an NBA oddsmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which provides betting lines for a majority of sports books throughout Nevada.

"I think that when the season starts in February the players will get right back into the flow."

Bert Osborne, director of the sports books for the Gold Coast, Barbary Coast and the Orleans, said he is happy that he will soon be posting lines on NBA games.

"We were looking at a pretty stark February," Osborne said. "Also, after (the college basketball championship in) March, it was looking pretty bad.

"We had been seeing the handle (total wagers) pick up a little on the college games from Tuesday through Friday. And, of course, the handle is strong on college and pro football. Now we'll have the NBA season and possibly NBA playoffs in July, which ordinarily is a dead month for us."

Mike Spoonhoward, race and sports book supervisor for Sam's Town, called the end of the lockout "a win-win situation for the bettors and the books."

"I don't think they (bettors) will shy away because of the lockout," Spoonhoward said. "I think they will be out in strong force."

Osborne said the bets his books will accept initially will be smaller than normal as the lines are tested for integrity. Spoonhoward said that the size of the wagers on the totals (the over and under bets on the combined final scores of both teams) probably will be limited at the start at his operation.

"As at the start of any new season there will be a feeling-out period, but we will provide good lines," Korner said.

After it was learned today that an all-night bargaining session between the NBA owners and players' union resulted in an agreement to save what's left of the season, Las Vegas Sports Consultants issued a notice to its sports book clients to take down the previously posted future books.

A future book is the odds on every NBA team's chances of winning the title. Korner said a new future book will be set when all of the free-agent signings are completed and the new schedule is set. Wagers made on the old future books will stand.

It was not immediately clear how many games would be played or when the season would begin. The NBA schedule normally is 82 games, but this abbreviated season probably may feature 50 games.

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