The Las Vegas Hilton SuperBook again paces the pack by posting the first lines on over/under season win totals for all NBA teams. The popular SuperBook proposition gives players a chance to wager on how many wins a particular team will have. Defending champ San Antonio and Miami have the highest expectations with 58 1/2 wins apiece, followed by Indiana at 54 1/2 and Houston and Dallas at 53 1/2. The second-year Charlotte Bobcats bring up the rear with 21 1/2 victories. The Lakers, a popular team in the Vegas Valley, are 42 1/2 with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves while their Los Angeles neighbors, the Clippers, are at 40 1/2. ***** Bourbon Street has shut its doors and rumors insist the Tropicana also is on the auction block and that this is the last football season for the Imperial Palace. Harrah's is supposedly interested in the latter two to add to its growing kingdom of properties. Look for a Leroy's Sports Book to go into the Las Vegas Club, which is being kept open by employeees now that the Barrick Group has gone bust. ***** The Clark County Commission recently approved plans for Olympia Gaming to enter the Las Vegas Market. Plans call for Olympia's $750 million Southern Highland"s Casino-Resort on Las Vegad Blvd. South and St. Rose Parkway. Having an ultimate build-out in the $2 billion range, it is the South Strip's most ambitious property to date. Eventually, it promises to be a mixed-use destination luxury resort that has the amenities and attractions of a major Strip resort. ***** Caesars Palace Race and Sports Director Chuck Esposito leads the Gaming Today newspaper's "Battle of the Bookies" NFL Players competition with a 68-33 mark and appears to be running away with the contest. The closest pursuers are Mike Hendrie of Paris Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Hilton's Jeff Sherman and the Golden Nugget Laughlin's Steve Harvey with 59-42. ***** Caesars Palace, Bally's, Paris, the Flamingo and Reno Hilton have Vitali Klitschko as a minus $4.30 faviorte over plus $3.30 Hasim Rahman in their Caesars Palace WBC heavyweight boxing match Nov. 12. The "will go" eight full rounds is minus $1.10 and "won't go" is minus $1.20. Klitschko is 8/5 to win on a decision and Rahman is 8/1. Klitschko is minus $1.80 to win by a knockout and Rahman is 5/1. The draw proposition is 15/1. Bernard Hopkins is a slight minus $1.20 favorite over Jermain Taylor (minus $1.10) in their WBC/IBF/WBO Las Vegas middleweight title bout Dec. 3. The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds. ***** Las Vegas oddsmakers obviously consider the Chicago White Sox one-shot wonders. The Las Vegas Hilton has them at 15/1 to repeat as World Series champs and the Caesars Palace family lists them at 20/1. Favorites are the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees. The Hilton's current odds have the Cardinals at 5/1 and Caesars Palace has them at 3/1. The Yankees are 5/1 at the Hilton and 4/1 at Caesars. There's a big gap between the properties when it comes to the Cleveland Indians. They're 15/1 at the independent Hilton and 5/1 at Caesars establishments. The Chicago Cubs, perrenial action-attractors, are 20/1 at the two properties and the local favorite Los Angeles Dodgers are 30/1 at the Hilton and 40/1 at the Caesars group books. The Los Angeles Angels are 10/1 at the SuperBook and 8/1 at Caesars bet shops. Boston is 7-1 and 6-1 respectively. Atlanta's Braves are 12/1 at the Hilton and 7/1 at Caesars properties. Long shots are the Kansas City Royals at 500/1 and 300/1. |
