The Odds: One Season, Three Gamblers, and the Death of Their Las Vegas
For sports gamblers in Las Vegas, nobody cares who wins; it's by how  much that matters. InThe Odds, Chad Millman follows three professional  gamblers through a year of college basketball, where meticulous research,  betting discipline, and instinct clash with addiction, and no one relaxes until  they've lost it all.The three colorful gamblers Millman expertly portrays are a high-rolling career  "wiseguy," a slacker wannabe, and a bookmaker who sets the lines on games (for  example, Iowa over Indiana by 4-1/2 points, meaning if you bet on Iowa, you win  only if Iowa wins by five points or more). The idea behind the betting line is  to lure bets (hopefully, losing ones) and make a profit for his casino from the  action, but more importantly to stay ahead of those who pounce on a weak line  like hungry wolves. Millman provides the answer to what makes these wiseguys  tick: "While the casual bettor weighs common sense and financial realities with  every bet, the wiseguy pushes those aside... [his] battle isn't with what makes  sense; his battle is with anyone who gets in the way of making his bet a  euphoric experience."Along with lurid details of what these gamblers do to feed their frenzy, Millman  enriches us on gambling's history and sobering statistics, on Vegas's decline  and the rise of offshore casinos, and on the effects of media coverage and  politics on sports and gambling. While you won't learn how to get rich off the  next office pool, you will get an inside look at those who make or lose money on  some kid's buzzer-beater or a garbage-time lay-up.--Michael Ferch--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.