The NBA is finally here and did not start off good for the bookmakers as the public beat the house up in the baskets and closed the night out beating up the bookies with the Green Bay Packers hammering the Chicago Bears.  With the NFL playoffs in the wings and the Bowl Games starting to heat how did last week go for the very people booking the action?

Interesting betting tidbits from the past week:

*At Terrible’s in Las Vegas on Christmas Day a customer hit a $100 NBA 8-teamer that paid $15,000. He hit all the opening day games and three preseason.

*With the Saints win last night, Lucky’s in Vegas had a customer win a $37,015 progressive jackpot after picking straight-up all the Saturday, Sunday and Monday games correctly. It was a $5 entry.

How has the bowls been treating the sportsbooks so far?

“We’ve enjoyed a pretty good Bowl season so far. The biggest one-sided games coming up: players taking Iowa +14 over Oklahoma… Baylor -9.5 over Washington… and Northwestern +10 over Texas A&M.”
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline

“Bowl action has been very strong.  The hottest sides for this weeks games are Toledo, Texas, Fla State, Baylor, Tulsa, Iowa State, Auburn and South Carolina.  The only underdogs on the list (Tulsa and Iowa State) are getting less than 2 points each and all the other sides are favorites, so I would say this is mostly public action.  We have yet to hear from the wiseguys with their final verdict.”
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva

Early NFL action and recap of the holiday weekend:

“Colts beating the Texans on Thursday night was the best game for us of the week. The Lions over the Chargers and the Bills smacking Tebow and Denver were also big winners for us. The Packers two-TD victory over Chicago X-mas night was by far the worst game for the house.”
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline

“The worst game of the week was the Cowboys-Eagles. That Charger team that everyone was so sure would close this season like have the last few, disappointed their backers for our best game of the week.  All week I was hearing about the games from the past few years.  I told people we're not booking those games.  We only take action on the ones that haven't been played yet.”
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva

“The best was Broncos losing. The Broncos took all the money there.
Worst  game of the day was Packers game falling 14.”
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book

"The game that is getting the most early action is the NFC East deciding game as the Cowboys visit the Giants. We opened the Giants as three-point chalk, but quickly moved to minus four. Not surprising that most of the early bettors jumped on the Giants, considering Tony Romo’s banged-up hand. It doesn’t help that the Cowboys are up to their usual late season nose dive; 1-3 SU in last four and 2-7 ATS in last nine."
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline

College basketball in full swing and NBA finally starting up, how has hoops been for the house?

“College basketball has been ok so far.  We're usually pretty vulnerable early, but we have held our own.  In the NBA it was definitely Christmas for the bettors on opening day. I have a feeling it's going to be a weird season.”
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva

“Our NBA players won on opening day. We got crushed us on the Heat, Thunder and Clippers. We won the Bulls-Lakers. The Knicks-Celts game was pretty much a Push.College hoops has been very good. Profitable and our team is confident with getting the lines up before every other book, just about every day.”
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline

“We some major line moves. We opened Mavs -3 and the game closes closed Heat -3.  The Knicks game was good for us with them winning by 2 and the game closing 5. It opened pick ‘em.”
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book

With the NFL playoffs upon us I asked the very people who book the action who they like to win the Super Bowl and if there are any “live dogs” to consider:

“NY Giants will be last year’s Packers.  They come on late to capture Super Bowl  after polishing off the Cowboys. Eli Manning will be MVP.”
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book

“Super Bowl: Saints. Live dog? Steelers. If you consider them a dog”
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline

“I like the 49ers and Steelers to meet in the Super Bowl.  I still think the Texans are alive, even though they haven't looked too good lately.  I can't believe this would matter so much, but they need Wade Phillips back to get their defense where it had been, which is playing some of the best D in the league.”
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva

 Lenny Del Genio: Early Sportsbook Innovations: Lenny Del Genio talks about early sports book innovations at the Las Vegas Frontier with Bob Grogorka - including stories of casino boardroom politics. Plus, tales about how Bob Martin made the line before the Stardust lottery, the early days of Las Vegas Sports Consultants, and name drops for Roxy Roxborough and Michael Gaughan


Las Vegas Contributors:

-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva: Las Vegas bookmaker at Cal Neva working directly with legendary oddsmaker Nick Bogdanovich. Cal Neva has 35 locations throughout Nevada, including the Las Vegas strip, Henderson, Mesquite, Reno, Sparks, Carson City, South Lake Tahoe, Jackpot, and Gardnerville. You can catch Chris on ESPN945.com and follow him on twitter at @andrewssports.

-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book: Legendary Las Vegas bookmaker and Director of Sports Operations and Public Relations. Lucky’s Race & Sports Book has 17 locations, including the Riviera Hotel & Casino, Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel, Plaza Hotel & Casino and Terrible's Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall and River Palms Resort Casino in Laughlin. Follow Jimmy V and Lucky’s on twitter at@JimmyVaccaro and @betatluckys.

Offshore Contributors:

-Oddsmakers from BetOnline: BetOnline operates out of Panama City, Panama, which has been referred to as "the banking capital of Latin America". Panama is a reliable and secure business environment, providing a solid infrastructure, cutting-edge Internet bandwidth and a government that strictly regulates and monitors offshore gaming activity. @DaveMasonBOL

-Phill Gray the Line Management Supervisor from Sports Interaction: Sports Interaction, the first online sportsbook licensed and regulated in North America, has been the No 1 choice in the online gambling market for more than ten years. Sports Interaction is overseen and regulated by the Kanhawake Gaming Commission