Not always but I find that Vegas offers about 1/2 the odds that you can find offshore. 5Dimes, The Greek, WSEX, Pinnacle, among others, have great future odds; make sure you shop around because there are huge differences between them depending upon the team and the sport.
from the:
September 25, 2006
Jeff Haney analyzes the 'house edges' and recommends two sports books to those who want to bet on a team to win the Super Bowl
House edge
We surveyed 12 major Las Vegas sports books and analyzed the house edge in each of their Super Bowl future books. The larger the house edge, the worse it is for the bettor.
This list ranks the 12 sports books in order of best to worst from the bettor’s perspective:
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Book</TD><TD>Edge (percent)</TD></TR><TR><TD>Palms</TD><TD>22.8</TD></TR><TR><TD>Venetian</TD><TD>22.8</TD></TR><TR><TD>Hilton</TD><TD>29.3</TD></TR><TR><TD>Wynn</TD><TD>34.9</TD></TR><TR><TD>Golden Nugget</TD><TD>35.1</TD></TR><TR><TD>Plaza</TD><TD>37.9</TD></TR><TR><TD>Coast Casinos</TD><TD>43.7</TD></TR><TR><TD>Leroy’s</TD><TD>46.5</TD></TR><TR><TD>MGM-Mirage</TD><TD>47.4</TD></TR><TR><TD>Caesars properties</TD><TD>48.6</TD></TR><TR><TD>Station Casinos</TD><TD>48.9</TD></TR><TR><TD>Arizona Charlie’s/
Stratosphere</TD><TD>53.9</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
-------------------------------------
If you're looking to put money on which National Football League team is going to win the Super Bowl this season, your first two stops in Las Vegas should be the Palms and the Venetian.
Those sports books offer the most value to bettors in their Super Bowl future book, or set of odds on each team to go on to win the NFL championship game, scheduled for Feb. 4, 2007, in Miami.
In an analysis of the Super Bowl future books of a dozen major Las Vegas casinos, the Palms and Venetian came out on top with a highly competitive theoretical hold percentage, or "house edge," of just 22.8 percent - quite strong for this type of wager.
House edge expresses, as a percentage, the amount of money a sports book is expected to keep after paying out winning wagers.
The lower the house edge, the more favorable it is for bettors. The higher the house edge, the worse it is for bettors.
While it's possible to find favorable odds on a particular team at any given sports book, house edge is a valuable tool because it gives a big-picture look at how strong a future book's odds are overall.
In fact, one reason certain sports books check in with high - or unfavorable to the bettor - theoretical hold percentages is that the bookmaker might lower odds on various teams as the season progresses, but does not make up for it by raising the price enough on other teams.
If a sports book offers extremely low odds on one favored team, for instance, it can still have a competitive theoretical hold percentage by offering high - or attractive to the bettor - odds on several other teams.
But a high house edge usually indicates that a sports book is offering poor odds across the board, from top to bottom.
After the Palms and Venetian, the Las Vegas Hilton was also determined to offer good value in its Super Bowl future book, checking in with a house edge of 29.3 percent, followed by the Wynn Las Vegas (34.9 percent) and the Golden Nugget (35.1 percent).
Traditionally, the industry standard for this type of wager is generally considered to be a house edge of 40 to 50 percent, with lower rates considered competitive.
The Sun has periodically conducted similar studies of the house edges in Las Vegas future books in previous seasons, and the 22.8 percent rate recorded by the Palms and Venetian is the lowest - meaning best for the bettor - yet.
For example, the Venetian also came out on top in the 2004 Super Bowl future book analysis with a house edge of 25 percent, and the Hilton led the way in the 2005 World Series future book analysis at 28.1 percent.
In an encouraging sign, there were no future books with house edges of greater than 53.9 percent this year, while in 2004 there were three at 57 percent or higher, with one checking in at 71 percent.
Book managers update their future book odds in various sports weekly if not daily, so odds change frequently. Even so, the odds on individual teams can vary dramatically among sports books, so it pays to shop around.
Heading into this past weekend's action, for example, the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots were among the favorites to win the Super Bowl. The Colts were 7-1 at the Venetian and the Patriots could be had at 7-1 at the Palms or the Hilton, but both teams were listed as low as 3-1 or 4-1 at less competitive joints.
Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or at haney@lasvegassun.com.
September 25, 2006
Jeff Haney analyzes the 'house edges' and recommends two sports books to those who want to bet on a team to win the Super Bowl
House edge
We surveyed 12 major Las Vegas sports books and analyzed the house edge in each of their Super Bowl future books. The larger the house edge, the worse it is for the bettor.
This list ranks the 12 sports books in order of best to worst from the bettor’s perspective:
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Book</TD><TD>Edge (percent)</TD></TR><TR><TD>Palms</TD><TD>22.8</TD></TR><TR><TD>Venetian</TD><TD>22.8</TD></TR><TR><TD>Hilton</TD><TD>29.3</TD></TR><TR><TD>Wynn</TD><TD>34.9</TD></TR><TR><TD>Golden Nugget</TD><TD>35.1</TD></TR><TR><TD>Plaza</TD><TD>37.9</TD></TR><TR><TD>Coast Casinos</TD><TD>43.7</TD></TR><TR><TD>Leroy’s</TD><TD>46.5</TD></TR><TR><TD>MGM-Mirage</TD><TD>47.4</TD></TR><TR><TD>Caesars properties</TD><TD>48.6</TD></TR><TR><TD>Station Casinos</TD><TD>48.9</TD></TR><TR><TD>Arizona Charlie’s/
Stratosphere</TD><TD>53.9</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
-------------------------------------
If you're looking to put money on which National Football League team is going to win the Super Bowl this season, your first two stops in Las Vegas should be the Palms and the Venetian.
Those sports books offer the most value to bettors in their Super Bowl future book, or set of odds on each team to go on to win the NFL championship game, scheduled for Feb. 4, 2007, in Miami.
In an analysis of the Super Bowl future books of a dozen major Las Vegas casinos, the Palms and Venetian came out on top with a highly competitive theoretical hold percentage, or "house edge," of just 22.8 percent - quite strong for this type of wager.
House edge expresses, as a percentage, the amount of money a sports book is expected to keep after paying out winning wagers.
The lower the house edge, the more favorable it is for bettors. The higher the house edge, the worse it is for bettors.
While it's possible to find favorable odds on a particular team at any given sports book, house edge is a valuable tool because it gives a big-picture look at how strong a future book's odds are overall.
In fact, one reason certain sports books check in with high - or unfavorable to the bettor - theoretical hold percentages is that the bookmaker might lower odds on various teams as the season progresses, but does not make up for it by raising the price enough on other teams.
If a sports book offers extremely low odds on one favored team, for instance, it can still have a competitive theoretical hold percentage by offering high - or attractive to the bettor - odds on several other teams.
But a high house edge usually indicates that a sports book is offering poor odds across the board, from top to bottom.
After the Palms and Venetian, the Las Vegas Hilton was also determined to offer good value in its Super Bowl future book, checking in with a house edge of 29.3 percent, followed by the Wynn Las Vegas (34.9 percent) and the Golden Nugget (35.1 percent).
Traditionally, the industry standard for this type of wager is generally considered to be a house edge of 40 to 50 percent, with lower rates considered competitive.
The Sun has periodically conducted similar studies of the house edges in Las Vegas future books in previous seasons, and the 22.8 percent rate recorded by the Palms and Venetian is the lowest - meaning best for the bettor - yet.
For example, the Venetian also came out on top in the 2004 Super Bowl future book analysis with a house edge of 25 percent, and the Hilton led the way in the 2005 World Series future book analysis at 28.1 percent.
In an encouraging sign, there were no future books with house edges of greater than 53.9 percent this year, while in 2004 there were three at 57 percent or higher, with one checking in at 71 percent.
Book managers update their future book odds in various sports weekly if not daily, so odds change frequently. Even so, the odds on individual teams can vary dramatically among sports books, so it pays to shop around.
Heading into this past weekend's action, for example, the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots were among the favorites to win the Super Bowl. The Colts were 7-1 at the Venetian and the Patriots could be had at 7-1 at the Palms or the Hilton, but both teams were listed as low as 3-1 or 4-1 at less competitive joints.
Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or at haney@lasvegassun.com.
