Stardust, 3000 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Binionıs Horseshoe, 128 Fremont St. Harrahıs Las Vegas, 3475 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Ballyıs, 3645 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Excalibur, 3850 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Imperial Palace, 3535 Las Vegas Blvd. South.
Best of the Rest
Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. South; Las Vegas Hilton, 3000 Paradise Road; The Mirage, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. South; Leroyıs Horse & Sports, 28 locations in Southern Nevada; Sunset Station, 1301 W. Sunset Road.
By Joe Hawk
Review-Journal So youıre looking to make a bet on your favorite sports team? Where to go, where to go?
If getting value is important, youıre committed to shopping around. If just laying down an Andy Jackson and a couple of Georges on your lunch break is all you have time for, youıre looking for a place you can get in and out of quickly.
If youıre looking for both, then youıve arrived at the Stardust race and sports book.
Thatıs according to a panel of local sports gaming experts asked to rate the top five sports books for this yearıs Best of Las Vegas.
The Stardust, with more than 250 seats and 50-plus televisions inside its expansive 18,420-square-foot sports book, took top honors from our voters. Sports books at Binionıs Horseshoe, Harrahıs Las Vegas and Ballyıs ranked second through fourth, with books at the Excalibur and Imperial Palace tying for fifth.
³Itıs the finest sports book in town,² retired sports book operator Sonny Reizner said of the Stardust. ³Wonderful, wonderful accommodations. Plenty of TVs, plenty of scores and pretty good parking.
³And (sports book manager) Joe Lupo really knows the proper way to cater to customers.²
Reizner worked in sports book operations for 26 years, before retiring in 1996. He was sports book manager at the now-defunct Castaways, and subsequently ran the sports gaming operations at the Rio and Desert Inn.
³For the bettor whoıs shopping for value, the Stardust is good because itıs well-located on the Strip,² Reizner said. ³Itıs the place you start at and, more often than not, the place you come back to.²
Although the Stardust historically has been known as the first sports book in Southern Nevada to post opening lines on major events, thatıs become almost a simultaneous venture at many books today.
³Still, they put up numbers on everything added games, special events,² said multimedia sports betting analyst Dave Cokin. ³And they have knowledgeable people behind the counter. To the serious bettor, thatıs important.²
Although the sports book at Binionıs Horseshoe has only 20 seats and 10 TVs to view the action, it earned the No. 2 spot on the votersı list because of its willingness to ³play faces² meaning it will take unlimited wagers from bettors it knows.
³If you want to get down to big action, the Horseshoe is the best,² says local bettor and sports gaming analyst Lem Banker. ³Theyıre not afraid to take a bet.²
The Horseshoe, managed by Nick Bogdanovich, has general ³limits² i.e., $30,000 per side and $5,000 per total for the NFL; $10,000 per side, $5,000 per total on college football ³but you can bet what you want when you want on who you want, if they recognize you,² Cokin explained. ³Itıs the last of the gamblersı paradises.²
Harrahıs Las Vegas earned high marks, according to local analyst Larry Grossman, because of the personal approach taken by Howard Greenbaum. Reizner, too, praised the sports book manager.
³Very good, very professional,² Grossman said of Greenbaum.
³Heıs young, and youıll like his style,² Reizner said. ³Heıs a gentleman in every sense of the word. A top-notch individual.²
³And at Harrahıs,² Grossman continued, ³you can eat dinner right at your seat while youıre watching games. You donıt have to get up. Bettors like that.²
Ballyıs, under the capable direction of John Avello, finished fourth. The ³innovative approach and willingness to put up props (proposition bets) make it a popular place for the player just looking to have some fun,² said Larry Ness, a longtime bettor and sports betting service industry expert.
Books at two other Strip resorts, Excalibur and Imperial Palace, tied for fifth.
Excalibur earned plaudits for its ample sitting room, unusual proposition bets and the way manager Eric St. Clair runs the show.
³While it can be difficult to drive up the Strip to get there, youıll always find a bet to your liking,² Reizner said.
Imperial Palace, meanwhile, is the home of sports betting innovation. Thatıs thanks to manager Jay Kornegay, whoıs always willing to push the envelope.
³He has more props for the average guy,² Ness said, pointing to the 110 proposition bets that were available for Januaryıs Super Bowl XXXII. ³For 90 percent of the bettors, limits arenıt important. Having something they want to pull their wallets out for is. Youıre never disappointed at the IP.²
Cokin agreed, adding, ³I never saw a place put in more effort into exotic wagering.²
Four other sports book operations Caesars Palace, Las Vegas Hilton, Sunset Station and the 28-location Leroyıs Race and Sports received votes from the five panelists.
