On the second full day of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness, Bert Osborne made a bold move in the hopes of attracting more action over is way at South Point. He shrunk the splits on his NCAA Tournament moneylines from .20 cents to .15 cents. Just to shake things up a bit around town.
After the Arizona vs. Gonzaga game got started late on Sunday out on the West coast, South Point moved the juice on all ‘Sweet Sixteen’ sides to -105 instead of the usual -110. This time the offer also applies to parlay wagers. That means that winning tickets will be paid off at true odds.
For example: a 4-team parlay usually pays off at 10-to-1 according to the bookies payoff chart. If you take them up on this offer and bet your parlay at -105 vig, the payoff will be at 13.5-to-1. That can turn into a pretty penny!
Although the tourist traffic for the week of the Sweet Sixteen showdowns will not match last weekend, the books on & off the strip in Las Vegas are hoping to attract locals in for the action. The 105 vig is a good way to start.
The deal is not so attractive for small players. Saving $5 on a $100 bet is not going to get a lot of people excited. But, if you are prepared to wager more, say five dimes on a Sweet Sixteen game, the offer becomes much more interesting. South Point is going to feature a parade of pro bettors and wise guys this weekend.
The books are all set up next to the casino so it’s quite possible that there will be a lot of side action going on during the dance between the cards, the slots and the dice.
When asked if he was worried about all the wise guys coming out of the woodwork, Osborne commented, “I’ve got most of those guys on the phone account already, so now I’ll just be seeing them in person more.”
Osborne is willing to make a tradeoff between the excellent win percentage that the wise guys will have against a higher handle and overall hold percentage.
Like the Super Bowl, the March Madness Basketball Tourney seems to have been created just for the sports books and the action and atmosphere in a big Las Vegas sportsbook is unmatched anywhere on the planet.
