Las Vegas Sun

By Jeff Haney

Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (2 a.m.)

The most likely Super Bowl matchup this NFL season, according to oddsmakers and the betting public, is the New England Patriots against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys are listed at 2-1 to win the NFC title in the latest release from Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which serves as a solid indicator of the consensus Las Vegas line.

The Patriots are an even shorter favorite, listed at 3-2 to prevail in the AFC.

Because parlays are typically prohibited in future-book betting, however, gamblers might have a tough time combining those separate propositions into a single wager.

To get a wager down on exactly which two teams will meet in the Super Bowl, bettors have to seek out a sports book that embraces creative oddsmaking such as the one at Planet Hollywood on the Strip, which recently released betting lines on the matchup in Super Bowl XLIII.

(Excuse me, I mean the “2009 pro football championship game,” in Las Vegas casino-speak.)

Planet Hollywood has 49 potential Super Bowl matchups on the betting board at odds ranging from 4-1 (Patriots-Cowboys) to 150-1 (Green Bay Packers-New York Jets), with a 50th category covering all other matchups (75-1).

The “exact matchup” prop, of course, essentially acts as a form of a parlay on the respective conference championship winners.

As with any parlay, the house takes its “vigorish,” or cut of the action, but bettors with either a hunch or an insight can potentially reap a decent reward on a relatively small investment on the prop.

Take the matchup between the Patriots and the Cowboys, two teams likely to be exceptionally popular with the betting public this season. Given prices of 3-2 and 2-1 to win their conferences, a parlay on both events happening would hypothetically pay about plus 650, or 6 1/2-1, rather than the 4-1 on the board.

Likewise, on a potential Cowboys-San Diego Chargers matchup, using a consensus line of 7-2 on the Chargers to win the AFC, a true parlay would pay closer to 12-1 rather than the 8-1 on the board.

Still, given the sheer number of choices available and the novel nature of the wagering opportunity, the prop at Planet Hollywood is well worth checking out — especially when you consider many of the matchups are longer shots in the range of 30-1, 60-1 or higher.

Football gamblers who dismiss betting on Super Bowl matchups as too gimmicky, meanwhile, will find a strong selection of college football conference championship odds at Planet Hollywood.

The book offers odds, and a bettor-friendly pricing structure, on the winner of six conferences: the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Big East and SEC.

The line on Southern Cal, the heaviest favorite on the board, has been hammered into place at minus 350 (risk $3.50 to win $1) to win the Pac-10.

But “chalk,” or favorite, players can find an attractive line of minus 130 on Ohio State to win the Big Ten, for instance. The Buckeyes are as high as minus 250 elsewhere.

Bettors trying to beat the chalk in the Big East (South Florida, West Virginia) can find Cincinnati at 10-1 and Connecticut at 15-1, both prices substantially better than the consensus preseason line.

Masters odds

Despite his announcement that he won’t be swinging a golf club until next year as he recovers from knee surgery, Tiger Woods has been installed as a heavy betting favorite to win the 2009 Masters in early odds released by the Las Vegas Hilton.

Woods opened at 2-1, followed by Phil Mickelson at 10-1 and Padraig Harrington at 15-1, with defending champ Trevor Immelman at 50-1.

Fight follow-up

Two days after we speculated Oscar De La Hoya would be a favorite of “a bit less than 2-1” in a rumored fight against Manny Pacquiao (Las Vegas Sun, Aug. 19), Lucky’s sports book at the Plaza officially posted a line on the matchup, making De La Hoya a minus 170 favorite.

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