Vegas sees little action only Ivy League games

Extending the boundaries of the Ivy League's unique place in athletics from the playing field to the books and casinos of the gambling world, sports wagering reserves a set of distinctions for Ancient Eight teams. A point spread on a Dartmouth-Princeton football game reads seven and a half, just as it might for an Ohio State-Iowa game -- but for the wagerers and legal sports books of the gambling world, the similarities end there. Like most of the Las Vegas casinos, the Mirage first offered betting on the Ivy League only out of courtesy to graduates and casino patrons interested in the scores, according to the hotel's sports book manager. The level of gambling on Ivy League games falls far short of the mark common for most major conference teams, the Mirage manager said. Las Vegas casinos normally collect sums of wagers ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 on an average Ivy League game, instead of the hundreds of thousands bet on major conference games. The majority of these sums represent bets made by educated and informed wagerers -- referred to in the business as "wise guys," said a member of the Mirage book. With its games played in relative obscurity, the Ivy League renders the information essential for sports gambling less accessible to the public. And since only the "wise guys" collect information on injuries, weather, trends and statistics, betting by the general public is nearly impractical. They place bets on the basis of their privy information, before a casino odds-makers can react and change the line, said Felix Crisafulli of the Mirage sports book. Therefore, betting institutions like the Las Vegas Bally's and the Global Sports Network do not accept bets on the Ivy League. The majority of those who do erect stiff limits on all Ivy wagering -- most times confining the amount bet to half the regular sum accepted. In gambling, information is king. Casinos compensating for the lack of information on Ivy League games adjust lines in point and point-and-a-half margins instead of the normal half-point amounts, Crisafulli said. Some Ivy games are not even bet on, said a member of the Las Vegas Caesar's Palace sports book. He added that the inaccessibility of information on Ivy League teams has kept the league from becoming part of the regular rotation of offered games. Depth becomes an additional factor contributing to the treatment of Ivy League wagering, according to another member of the Caesar's casino staff. In most cases, a single injury can have a great effect on a game, as the difference in talent from the starter to the second-string player generally represents a much steeper decline in the Ivy League than on major conference teams. Mirage employee Robert Walker maintains that the unique position held by the Ivy League in the gaming world can be justified by the difficulty casinos have in balancing the amount of money bet on Ivy games. He explained that Ivy League wagering leaves casinos short on one side. "Not many people bet the Ivies, and because the great majority are wise guys who bet on the same team, there normally is only action on one side of the game," he said. "We are catering to a select group of people, and I can make a case? for not putting the games on the board. The only reason for having it up is tradition." One member of the Global Sports Network, based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, said the infrequent Ivy betting can be attributed to the NCAA's lack of attention to Ivy League games and their small market. The minimal NCAA supervision and national attention renders the league too easy a mark for bookies who want to fix a game, he said. Jeff Orleans, Ivy League executive director, could not be reached to comment on this allegation.