The Politics Of Bookmaking

     Today's Friday and we don't got much to talk about between now and Sunday. We did have a game yesterday that was fun to watch, that is if you had Direct TV. I heard all kinds of comedian's tryin' to predict the winner of this game and it just makes me laugh. This was the type of game that Vegas thrives on. Handicapper's feel like they gotta' make a prediction and bettors feel like they gotta' bet just 'cause there's a game on. I mean hey, if you got money to burn then ga' head. Me, I work too hard for my dough  to just give it to the casino's and bookmakers. Remember, you're not bettin' against the other team. You're bettin' against wiseguys. So there's some things you gotta' know.
     Most of you are of the understanding that Vegas don't care who you bet, so long as they got wagering on both sides evenly, therefore collecting on the vig. Yeah right! You mean to tell me they built those extravagant casino's on the vig? I don't think so. Here's how it works. Some wiseguys get together and say to themselves, "Who are the teams that no one's gonna' take this week." I mean even with a gun to your head you wouldn't take 'em. They know that no matter what they do, no matter how many points they give you, you ain't takin' 'em. So they go right ahead and make that teams opponent (the favorite) give up way too many points. Are they always right? No, but they don't have to be. If they got 5 games like that, they know they're gonna hit at least 3. Know what I mean?
    You wanna know more? Ar-right, TOPBOSS has got more. The money that books take in from the betting public don't just sit there, waiting for you to win and then collect. These same wiseguys are looking to take all that money and bet it themselves. You think they're bettin' on 3 team parlays and teaser cards? Fuhget-about-it. They're lookin to catch the in-betweens. What's that you say? Here's an example. This Sunday Dallas plays in New York (Yeah right. New York) against my beloved Giants. These genius "bookmakers" set the spread on Monday at 13.5 points. Today is Friday and that spread is currently at 15.5 in some places. Some rocket scientist "bookmaker" figured out that he can take the Giant's on Monday and give 13.5, and then take the Cowboys on Friday and get 15.5. Maybe even 16 by Sunday. If the Giant's win by 14 or 15 exactly (catching the in-between), they win both bets, all of it. If the Giant's win by 16 exactly, they push, getting all the money back from one bet and winning the other. Now you might say that's a little risky for them, right? Well, the worst they can do is lose the vig, or 5%, which they've already accounted for by taking those sucker bets we talked about in the first paragraph, and also by taking the biggest sucker bet of all, the 3 team, point spread parlay.
     Is all this startin' to sound kinda familiar? Hedge bets, hedge funds? Play-off futures, stock futures? You didn't know you we're simply buyin' stocks did ya? Well you're not exactly. You're just loaning money to the Las Vegas Stock Exchange.
     Now don't get discouraged, you got TOPBOSS workin' for ya' and I practically invented the racket. But you better keep me close 'cause it's treacherous out there.