(Nover's View is usually posted daily by 1 p.m. Las Vegas time.)
Hope everyone is enjoying their Fourth of July. On this day, my mind thinks of Thomas Jefferson. But my stomach thinks of burgers.
What's the best burger you ever had? My favorite is a juicy cheeseburger at the All-American Bar & Grill in the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. Outstanding quality of beef with a soft bun and cooked to order.
Cooked to order, unfortunately, has become a lost art in the world of burgers. Good luck trying to find any fast food place that will cook a burger medium rare or even medium. Some unqualified worker at Jack In the Box undercooks a burger years ago and because of that every franchise burger place I've come across cooks burgers only well done.
I like my burgers medium rare. I'll settle for medium. Not well done. It's not rocket science to make a burger medium instead of well done.
But these places won't do it. Five Guys uses fresh beef. Their burger is good even though it's cooked well done. I can only imagine how good it would taste if they would cook it medium rare or even medium. They won't, though.
If burger places are so afraid of getting sued if their burger isn't completely well done, have the customer sign a waiver. I'd be more than happy to do that if it meant getting a burger cooked even medium.
Want to make a lot of money? Open a burger stand where you have quality, fresh meat and will make a burger just the way a customer wants - and don't charge a fortune for it.
Who is Stephen Nover?
I consider myself unique among handicappers because of my journalism background (covered sports gaming for 13 years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal). Also, I have two sports gambling books, “Las Vegas Sports Beat” and “Sports Gaming Beat” out, along with a book on fantasy football titled, “Winning Fantasy Football."
I taught a football handicapping class at UNLV in the fall of 2004. I was the co-host of the Sunday night sports betting radio show “The Stardust Line” from 1991-1996. Some of my co-hosts were Ken White, one of the top oddsmakers in the country, professional sports bettor Dave Malinsky and college football guru and author Arne Lang. I also was a part-time oddsmaker for Roxy Roxborough.
The combination of my journalism background (which has given me a wealth of gambling and mainstream contacts), oddsmaking experience, expert league Rotisserie/fantasy sports involvement and vast knowledge and experience of sports has made me a unique handicapper.