Friday, February 21, 2014

Weekend Vegas Book Notes: South Point Opening Showroom for Daytona 500 Party

Budweiser helping South point with NASCAR promotion
LAS VEGAS -- The South Point will open its showroom with a massive HD movie screen for viewing Sunday’s Daytona 500. The set-up will be similar to the popular Monday Night Football parties at property, where the fans will be able hoot and holler in an environment not offered anywhere else in Las Vegas.

Thursday night at the South Point sports book – while we were shooting video segments – the Budweiser Duels were being shown in the sports book at the same time the Budweiser Clydesdales were giving free shows in another area of the casino. Now, that is some kind of mega event tie-in – and a new one here in Las Vegas.

Denny Hamlin’s Toyota proved to have the most horses under the hood, as he’s two-thirds away from the Daytona triple – winning the Sprint Unlimited, Budweiser Duel and Daytona 500 all in the same season, something that has never been done before.

Sports book director Bert Osborne was running through his Daytona 500 odds screen when we talked Friday afternoon.

“The only drivers I lose on so far are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Austin Dillon,” Osborne said. “Everyone else looks good for us so far, but we expect to see the bulk of the action (Friday) through Sunday.”

Rousey attracting new bettors?
Our resident MMA analyst Hugh Citron, the first bookmaker in Las Vegas to set odds on MMA matches, has been crowing about the intensity of the crowds for Ronda Rousey fights, and books around town have confirmed that she generally attracts the most tickets written on any UFC event – not necessarily money wagered – an indication that she is the “it” personality the masses want to see, and bet on or against.

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