Sportsbooks are so outdated

My buddy is in Vegas, and has been betting my plays for the past few days.  Problem is, they have less than half of the options that online does.  No team totals, no adjusted run lines, no if bets, prop bets, ETC.  Add to the fact you have no clue who has a better line, could be the place next door.  Then you have to travel all over every time you want to place a bet.  Then you have to hold on to some ticket to receive your winnings.  Vegas, alcohol, yeah.....I could see lots of misplaced tickets existing.

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.

all valid points, but at least no worries of not getting your money when you want it....

Um... It's legal.  Nuff said.

I love sportsbooks and have no problem with the way they are run, they are like heaven to me.  I love gambling, i love sports, put em together and you got an amazing cocktail.

I do however would like to see them implement touch screens where you can insert your cash and place all your bets on there.  You would be able to choose the sport, the event, the game, and whatever line you like.  At a local casino over here on the east coast, they have this for horse betting, its really fast and simple and a lot better than waiting in the lines for a teller

Nice VG

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.

I'll take 20 bucks on the Yankees,,,,


lol,VG is so right, not that I bet that much per game, but the general population has no clue on what they are doing. They don't understand the difference between a runline and the moneyline, they need the help of a human being....

No matter how much they advance, they will always need the tellers. Vegas gets a lot of tourists and lot of people who never made a sports bet even though they are fan of certain sport. When they place their first ever bet, they will need help from the tellers. Like the above poster mentioned, I have seen tellers explaining to the bettor in front of me the difference between the money line and point spread. 

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 .

 

 If you took the people out and put kiosks in, you'd need people to explain to John Q, Public how to make the bet they want on the kiosk.

Let's be serious, the average person struggles to do the self-checkout at the grocery store. You want that person to make a bet on a touch screen computer? You're incredibly optimistic about your fellow man.

For Vegas locals, simply set up an online account at a Station casino. Bet LEGALLY from the comfort of your own home. I know other casinos allow phone in wagers (Coast casinos) but not sure if any other has an online deal. Wish the LVH did as they usually have the best lines.

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!

The ease and instant access to potential winnings is probably the biggest pro of the brick-and-mortar sportsbook to me. My experience with trying to make withdrawals from online sites has not been smooth, and while in fairness I am to understand there are apparently some reliable sites out there for accessing your cash, I have yet to find one that I personally trust to the extent where I feel comfortable investing a significant amount of money.

@VegasGourmet - I've been reading through your posts (appreciate your insight) and was wondering if it would be possible to send you a PM re: thoughts on various sportsbooks? I spent a fair amount of time in LV last year and am returning this month. Sent you a friend request. Cheers.

i love the fact that they give me a ticket i must hold on too and be responsible for. it provides a hard copy, and tangible proof that the book owes me money, and it takes all the liability off of the casino. if they ran everything on computers what would happen if their system crashed? you could lose everything, just as if an online book got shut down. if you go to scoreandodds.com they usually have the lines for the bigger vegas books anyways, and they are usually correct.

as far as updating the fields of what you can wager on, i would love to see this. props, team totals, and all kinds of other bets out there that vegas could profit off of.

i forgot one of my issues with live sportsbooks.

i'm not 100% sure on this, but i think a majority of  the sportsbooks close at night. the fact that you can't cash a ticket or wager a game 24/7 could be frustrating. most books from what i've seen open in the morning and close shortly after the last "action" of the day ends. they definitely needs a teller 24/7

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.....