Final Four Proposition Bets (2008): May Not be Worth the Bother for Vegas Oddsmakers

Robert Walker, race and sports book director at MGM Mirage, claims that Final Four player props have generated little betting action on Hansbrough and Stephen Curry of Davidson in the Sweet 16, so why offer them during the Final Four.

"Unless the players are superstars, college basketball fans "prefer to bet teams, not players," Walker told USA Today.

The NCAA "technically" opposes all legal and illegal betting on college games, one suspects they are not living under a rock either. 

"People wouldn't watch these games if they couldn't bet on them," said Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com. 

The NCAA instead lets the individual colleges decide on the types of prop bets that can be offered at the Vegas casinos, with some schools requesting the props be taken down.

Schools reacted with surprise, according to the USA Today report.

"We don't like to have our players mentioned in any fashion pertaining to gambling," said Bob Winn, associate athletics director at Memphis.

UNC would prefer its players not be associated with betting, spokesman Steve Kirschner said. But the Tar Heels look to the NCAA "to lead the way" on gambling issues. UCLA and Kansas declined to comment.

The dollars legally wagered on college and pro basketball in Nevada more than doubled to $228 million in March 2007 from $107 million the previous month, Frank Streshley, an analyst with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, told USAToday. 

This number does not include the vast amount wagered over the Internet.  Privately held online gambling firms operating out of such jurisdictions as Costa Rica and Antigua tend not to provide actual dollar figures, but multiplying the March 2007 number by five and factoring in an upward percentage trend for this year would certainly not be much of a stretch. 

For websites like BetUS.com, there's not a whole lot of proposition offerings for this weekend's Final Four matchups compared to the Super Bowl where one could literally find hundreds of prop bets.

The betting menu there consists mainly of which teams will score the most points and who will be named the league MVP.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published April 4, 2008 12:08 pm EST