Bronc's or Bust
One of the cardinal rules of sports betting is don't let your
heart rule your head.
Sometimes, that's easier said than done.
Ask Boston native Robert Jaynes, the Stratosphere Tower's race
and sports director.
He's standing pat with the Pats, winners of the last two Super
Bowls.
Then there's Jay Kornegay, race and sports director at the Las
Vegas Hilton and a graduate of Colorado State University.
Guess who he'll be pulling for in the NFL Playoffs this weekend?
And what are the Denver Broncos, 3 1/2-point favorites over New
England in a Saturday AFC game, going to do to the Pats?
"They're going to kick booty," said Kornegay, whose office is
adorned with orange and navy Broncos memorabilia.
"They're better than a lot of people thought they'd be. To come
out of the regular season 13-3 is pretty good.
"The Super Bowl? I think it'll be difficult. I think they'll
lose to Indy."
Jaynes obviously doesn't believe Denver will get that far.
"The Pats are a long shot," Jaynes conceded, "but they're
peaking at the right time. They started the season kind of
shaky, but the (regular) season is 16 games long and they're
still standing.
"People have the impression that if you don't start off the
season with a bunch of wins, you're out of the picture, but the
Pats had some injuries to deal with earlier.
"We opened Pittsbugh (versus
Indy) plus 9 and it's currently 9
1/2," Jaynes continued
"The NFC is tough ... any one of them, I'd say.
"We got a lot of futures and early money on the Bears, but we
always get money on Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego teams, so
that's nothing unusual.
"We have the most (futures) money on Seattle, but we've seen
late money on the Redskins.
"Carolina has an outside chance -- they're peaking at the right
time -- but we don't have as much money on the Panthers as the
others."
The Hilton has seen minimal action on this weekend's games and
what has come in has been against the SuperBook's opening
numbers.
"We opened Seattle minus 10 and it's now 9 1/2," said Jeff
Sherman, one of Kornegay's top aides.
"We're seeing Panthers and Redskin money. The Bears are now
minus $1.35 on the money line.
"We opened New England plus 4 and it's now plus 3 1/2 minus
$1.20."
Kornegay says it's kind of a Catch 22 for him when it comes to
the Broncos.
"I don't bet on these games, but when I pick against the Broncos
nobody takes it serously and when I pick them, they say, "Oh,
you're just a Broncos fan.
"I can't win."
About the author:
Lynda Collins is a documented member of the Professional
Handicappers League. Read all of her articles at www.procappers
.com/Lynda_Collins.htm
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