Columnist Jeff Haney: Look for bettors to show faith in Holyfield

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at 259-4041 or [email protected]

Evander Holyfield went off as a minus 150 favorite when he faced Lennox Lewis on March 13 at Madison Square Garden, but the boxers' roles are reversed in the rematch.

Lewis is a 2-1 favorite, or close to it, in Las Vegas sports books for Saturday's heavyweight unification bout at the Thomas & Mack Center. Their first meeting was ruled a draw, though most observers felt Lewis won the fight.

At the Stratosphere hotel-casino, Lewis is at minus 190 with Holyfield a plus 170 underdog.

Nick Bogdanovich, the Stratosphere's sports book manager, expects Holyfield money to come in as fight night approaches.

"I think the odds will come down," Bogdanovich said. "Even though Lewis looked dominant in the first fight, I think people will take a shot on Holyfield at the plus money. Just when you think Holyfield's done, he always seems to come back and surprise you."

Mandalay Bay has Lewis at minus 200 and Holyfield at plus 160, with a full menu of props.

"Will go" and "won't go" 10 full rounds of a scheduled 12 are both listed at minus 120. Other offers on the board are Lewis by decision (2-1), Lewis by knockout (5-2), Holyfield by decision (5-2) and Holyfield by knockout (4-1).

Bettors can also pick the knockout round at odds ranging from 6-1 (Lewis in 4 or Lewis in 5) to 30-1 (Lewis in 12, Holyfield in 12, Holyfield in 11 or Holyfield in 10).

Gamblers with a sick sense of humor can bet the 12-round draw at odds of 12-1.

* FOOTBALL NOTES: Enough action came in on the underdog Tennessee Titans in Sunday night's game against the Miami Dolphins to move the line off the key number of 3 1/2 and down to 3.

Although bettors lost on that wager when Miami prevailed 17-0, they won when the total stayed "under."

"We had a lot of money bet on that game," Bogdanovich said. "It closed at 3 and (a total of) 36, so they were betting Tennessee. But they were also betting a lot on the under, and that was a wise choice, with two good defensive teams. They slugged it out and it went under easily." ...

Bettors who backed Temple this past Saturday against Syracuse cashed in, although nearly all the movement in the game's line took place in the early going.

Temple opened at plus 25, but books who post college lines Sunday night -- such as the MGM and Stardust in Las Vegas, as well as a number of offshore operations -- saw so much action on Temple that the line dropped to 17 1/2 by Monday morning. Sports books who wait until Monday to open college wagering reported only an average amount of interest in the game, which Syracuse won 27-10. ...

It was the fourth straight cover for the Owls, the only Division I team to have played every game this year on Astroturf. "Turf-to-dirt" handicappers will have an interest in their Dec. 4 game on the natural grass at Miami. ...

Offshore sports books list the UNLV football team as a 25-point underdog in Saturday's game at Air Force. Betting on the Rebels is not permitted in Nevada.

* NHL GOALS WAGERING: The Imperial Palace has 29 players -- plus a field bet -- to choose from in its NHL leading goal-scorer proposition, and the sports book has taken bets on almost every one of them.

"We've written a lot of tickets, and they've been spread out across the board," said sports book manager Ed Salmons, who sets hockey odds for the IP. "We had some action on Pavel Bure right off the bat. Bure and (Jaromir) Jagr have had the most tickets written on them."

Jagr, tied for the league lead with 11 goals, is a 7-2 favorite, followed by Teemu Selanne and John LeClair at 5-1, and Bure at 6-1.

Luc Robitaille of the Kings, who has scored 10 goals, is listed at 8-1, along with Eric Lindros, Brett Hull, Keith Tkachuk and Peter Bondra.

"Robitaille had seven goals after four games, but he's cooled down since then," Salmon noted.

Three players currently tied with Jagr for the lead with 11 goals -- Boston's Dave Andreychuk, Phoenix's Travis Green and Colorado's Milan Hejduk -- are part of the field, a 10-1 shot.

* THE BAN PLAYED ON: The guy warming up the crowd at Friday night's Players Choice Awards at the Hard Rock made this stunning announcement just before showtime: When making their acceptance speeches, winners should refrain from making any reference to gambling, betting or Las Vegas.

Yes, even though the event was being held in a Las Vegas casino showroom.

Evidently, doing so would somehow threaten the integrity of a sport that once saw fit to cancel a World Series because of a work stoppage.

Sanity returned about five minutes into the broadcast, when emcee Chris Berman cracked a joke about doubling down on the cards that contained the names of nominees.

Then there's this, offered without further comment: The loudest cheers of the night followed the announcement of the winner of the 1970s Player of the Decade -- Pete Rose.

* LPGA ODDS: Karrie Webb has been installed as a 4-1 favorite at the Resort at Summerlin sports book to win the LPGA PageNet Tour Championship. The event takes place Thursday through Sunday at the Desert Inn Golf Club.

Juli Inkster and Annika Sorenstam are 6-1 second choices. The Resort at Summerlin has also posted four matchup propositions: Webb (minus 140) against Inkster (plus 110); Lori Kane (minus 125) against Meg Mallon (minus 105); Laura Davies (minus 140) against Kelly Robbins (plus 110); and Rachel Hetherington (minus 120) against Kelli Kuehne (minus 110).

* CONTEST WINNERS: Four entrants -- Camille Newlon, Denis Duso, Doreen Lubic and Louis Dalessanders -- went 16-1 and split the $15,000 weekly prize in the Stardust's free All-American Football Contest, winning $3,750 apiece.

In the Stardust Invitational handicapping tournament, Dana Corbo went 4-3 this past weekend to defeat sports analyst and radio host Dave Cokin, who went 2-5. Corbo is the owner and president of Don Best Sports.

At 9 p.m. Friday at the Stardust, syndicated talk-show host Papa Joe Chevalier squares off against boxing expert Al Bernstein.

archive