Sportsbooks are so outdated

Wow, Dan......a great post that makes a great deal of sense.....a year ago, you would have been 100% correct; but things are changing...rapidly...in Vegas. There is a major obstacle to change, however.....I'll try to cover some of your points here:

First, the #1 "opponent" to change is the NGC...Nevada Gaming Commission. They are the President, Congress, Supreme Court, and local cops all rolled into one. Just ask Cantor Gaming and William Hill how difficult it is to get something new introduced to the betting public.

Complete betting line info is available, if you want to pay for it. Lesser info is available for free on various internet websites. This info has nothing to do with the individual sportsbooks...all the directors of the books have access to that knowledge before they release their lines, there is no solid business reason that they should also provide you with the lines of their competitors.

The offshore/internet books have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to offering a wide range of betting options....some of them are not so "legal" (little league baseball, reality tv shows, ets); but most of them like totals and spread options are really just poor options for most bettors. The amount of money that would be bet on these bets would be a fraction of the regular business and, from that business standpoint, would make little sense to make them regular bets. They are available at most books for major games...playoffs, championships, etc.

The kiosks that you mention have been in Las Vegas for over a year now.....Leroy's (American Wagering, who was purchased by William Hill, and will be approved tomorrow by the NGC) has had these kiosks in every PT's Tavern (approximately 35 in LV). You set up your account at the bar, deposit or receive cash from the machine, receive a record of your bet or account history...and can also connect your kiosk account to your smartphone for mobile betting (in Nevada).It will be up to William Hill to convince the NGC that these kiosks should expand all over Nevada.

One point....The sportsbook serves as a "CONVENIENCE" to 99% of their customers...It is not truly run as a business option by the casino; the way that Cantor and William Hill run their books.....You still need to have live writers, paper tickets, and interaction to service those 99%.The number of bettors that need help/info to make their bets, be it $5 or $500 (which is 99% of the business) far outweighs those that know what they are doing.

Dan, if you have only been here once and had absolutely NO NEED for human contact when placing your sportsbook bet, then I commend you for your knowledge and preparation for betting. The public, however, especially when VACATIONING, expects to be helped in everything...to include betting.

Once again, excellent post....BUT, come on out for a long weekend and look at some of the major books...Wynn, Mirage, Venetian (Cantor)...from the standpoint of running the book and I think that you will soften your viewpoint a little.

Thx nc...

Redskin:  Understand.....Horse bettors know more about the bets that they want to make.....Sports bettors, ESPECIALLY people that come out to Vegas on vacation and stay in the large hotels do not know that much.....

The wide range of betting options for each sporting event.....from baseball to boxing....is just too much information for any $5-500 bettor to understand. Just ask any writer in any of the major hotels how many times that are told...."I've never done this before....."

Remember, as I have said before, the sportsbook is a CONVENIENCE for the customer and, as such, could not exist without the human contact/customer service aspect.

There are some sportsbooks that have kiosks in addition to writers....Leroy's (now William Hill)....I assume that that will grow once William Hill gets settled here and expands its operation.

the major problem in most of the books is the individuals running and working in these books are incompetent boobs and like to hire cheap help.

I worked in a strip book for years and remained friends with an individual who eventually won the hilton contest, and was doing the lines in our book, he currently works parttime out of the indusrty and wagers enough to supplement his income and when I go with him to a book he usually has to explain to the customers whats what as the sortsbooks employees cannot .

I frequent Vegas several times a year and absolutely love the Sportsbooks. If you cannot hang onto a simple ticket like a grown man then somewhere along the way you or your parents have failed. Treat it like cash because in a matter of a few hours it essentially will be. I cannot tell you thrill I get every playoff football season cashing in those tickets. Not to mention, I can go to a nice atmosphere like the Aria and watch the games in comfort on large televisions. On top of that they are providing me free booze?

What the fuck is your problem?

You must prefer to bet online which is extremely risky. It is illegal in the USA. You always run the risk of not being payed because a site shuts down. And you fail to realize there are costs of doing business online. The fees associated with withdraws at these online sites are an unnessary business expense. Even though we all do it, I just dont trust some monkey fuck from Costa Rica handling my money.

Long live the sportsbook!

Juice......Every book in every casino that I know will let you cash a sports (not race) ticket at the casino cage after the book closes (usually until 3am....typically audit time).....

There are some books that are open closer to 24/7; but most close after the last games/races....some do stay open till 1 or 2 am on fri/sat during football season.....