Bet the House: How I Gambled Over a Grand a Day for 30 Days on Sports, Poker, and Games of Chance
Customer reviews about Bet the House First, let me preface this by saying I know nothing about Richard Roeper. I've never seen any of hi...
Customer reviews about Bet the House
First, let me preface this by saying I know nothing about Richard Roeper. I've never seen any of his movie critiques or read any of his other books. I bought this book strictly for the gambling angle, as I love reading almost anything involving gambling. Overall, I enjoyed reading this and could easily picture myself in the same situations as Mr. Roeper. The portion on the dog track was particularly amusing.
That said, I had to keep asking myself what the point of it all was. He said something about an experiment, similar to "Super Size Me". However, in "Super Size Me", I think the experimenter was trying to prove some points with his experiemnt, the biggest one being that people needed to see what could happen to a person after 30 days of eating such awful food. In reading Mr. Roeper's stories, I got the sense that most of this experience was nothing new to him and that the "experiment" was just an excuse to gamble for 30 days and write about it so that he could make back his wagers. What was he really trying to prove here?
I also felt like Mr. Roeper ran out of gas toward the end of the 30 day period, as I felt shortchanged by the last few chapters in the book. There was really no "climax" to speak of, no major "wow, look what has happeend to me after all of this" moment, nothing like that. It was just a guy who said he would wager a certain amount per day.
I was also a little disappointed with his treatment of games he didn't care for throughout the book. For instance, take what he called "gimmick games". If the book is supposed to describe your experiences down a wide variety of these gambling paths, then talk about each of those paths and your experience with them. Don't cop out with "I tried it, I lost, and I'm done with it". If your baccarat experiences were boring, then tell us a little more about why than just that "they were boring". For a man who makes his life critiquing the experiences of others on the big screen, he sometimes doesn't describe his own terribly well.
Bottom line: An entertaining read for non-gamblers and Roeper fans, a somewhat annoying read for fans of gambling itself. One thumb up.
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Anthony Ian
4.0 out of 5 stars Ultimately Succeeds, In That It's Interesting for Non-Gamblers
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2010
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I know very little about gambling, except that I like to casually play Texas hold 'em or blackjack. So the first challenge to an author with a book like this is: can you make it interesting to what we call in my biz "non-category" readers? Is it appealing to the layperson, who doesn't know what "the vig" means or has no idea what the odds are on one casino game versus another, and doesn't care?
The answer: mission totally accomplished. Just as Scorcese's "Casino" served as an insider's look into Vegas then while following a human story narrative, this book makes you feels as though you've suddenly been dropped into the middle of the whole gambling world as a fly on the wall. You'll learn the language, what bookies actually do, what they DON'T do, what requires skill and what is really just a scam. Not surprisingly, lottery tickets are probably the biggest sucker's bet of all time--and ironically they're the most legal form of gambling, a theme which is touched on repeatedly throughout the book.
You'll get a sense of what it's like to have money riding on sports bets, horse racing, dog racing (which, as described, is eerily depressing, like a scene out of "No Country for Old Men."), the stock market, and, literally, simply flipping a coin one hundred times at a bar--among others.
Even with all the gambling setups and jargon, biographical details of Roeper's life manage to keep bubbling up at various points, including a horrific Vegas-set breakup story that may hit home to many.
Lest I paint this book too darkly, I read it in one sitting and I can't tell you how many LOL moments and characters appear--using VERY colorful language--which bring levity to the task at hand: risking at least $1,000/day on a bet of some sort. I won't tell what the final over/under was, but I can recommend this is a wildly entertaining read that you'll think about for some time afterward.
The other interesting subtext--which I'll leave to others to debate, but he gives mention--is: is what's being described merely a passion for gambling, or an addiction?
Over 30 days in early 2009, Richard Roeper risked more than a quarter-million dollars on practically every method of gambling currently available in America. Bet the House chronicles his wild journey. Follow Roeper as he travels from celebrity-filled Vegas tournaments to podunk dog races, negotiates illegal sports bets with shadowy bookies, trolls overseas-based Internet gaming sites, wagers against a radio comedian, haunts blackjack tables, and flips coins at a bar. As the wins and losses mount, you’ll share his suspense over that next big bet, the one that might, just might, get him back to black by the end of his odyssey.
Bet the House also explores:
• What it’s like to bet money you don’t have, knowing that if you lose, you’re in some serious trouble.
• The worst referee’s decision in the NFL in the last decade, and how it cost the author thousands of dollars.
• The time Roeper won more than $20,000 on a single horse race.
• Why the slots are such a bad play, why Roeper hates baccarat, and why state lotteries are worse than any numbers game run by the mob.
• The 10 best gambling movies of all time.
The true national pastime isn’t baseball or football or basketball. It’s gambling--on fantasy football, March Madness, poker, slots, the lottery, keno, church raffles, bingo, and more. Bet the House recounts with humor and pride the ultimate thrill ride of one American gambler.
Download: Bet the House: How I Gambled Over a Grand a Day for 30 Days on Sports, Poker, and Games of Chance
Richard Roeper was the cohost of Ebert & Roeper. He is a regular contributor to ReelzChannel and reviews movies for Starz. Roeper’s daily newspaper column has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times since 1987 and has been syndicated to newspapers throughout the world. He has contributed to Esquire, TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, Maxim, and other publications. Roeper is also the author of seven books, including Sox and the City and Debunked!
Learn more: Advanced Sports Betting Theories
Sports Betting Limits Designed to Limit the House's Damag
Every game of chance offers the house a certain inherent statistical advantage but none works off so small a profit margin--theoretically between one and four percent--as sports betting. With so little room for error, sportsbooks have come to rely on a combination of accurate pointspreads and an understanding of how and when to move lines as their primary defense against players. Another significant tool at the bookmakers' disposal is sports betting limits.
Generally, there are three factors that sportsbooks consider when establishing sports betting limits, the historical accuracy of the lines, their profit trends, and their customer mix. For those reasons, while sports betting limits may vary greatly from one wagering outlet to another, nearly all bet takers establish limits for their biggest and best sport and work their way down from there. For almost any sportsbook dealing with a clientele that is primarily American, the NFL rules supreme.
But what should a sportsbook's NFL limits be? As a general rule, if a book is unable to lose "comfortably" five times its stated limit, then that sports betting limit is too high. For example, if a sportsbook or Internet betting site has a limit of $10,000 and, as invariably happens from time to time, takes a limit hit on a single side in a single game five times before moving the pointspread on that game, then that sportsbook or site should be able to survive a $50,000 loss without half the staff being fired. If a sportsbook can't sustain such a hit, its sports betting limit is too high.
Sportsbooks and sites establish their sports betting limits based on their play. There's no reason for a wagering outlet to have a $10,000 limit if its top wagers consistently fall in the range of $500 to $1,000. In that scenario, the only time a sports betting site will see a $10,000 wager is when it doesn't need it, when there's something wrong with the game and the player has some informational edge over the bookmaker.
It's worth remembering that sports betting limits are in place as a defense against professional players. Sportsbooks in Nevada and other resort locations often allow their frequent casino customers to wager amounts that are larger than the house's stated limits. What's more, there also are a handful of transcendent sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, that benefit an entire property and may have no limit at all.
If a book starts with a $10,000 limit on NFL sides, then a $1,000 limit on NFL totals would be in line. After all, totals are esoteric wagers and limit bets on them almost always come from professional gamblers. By keeping total wagers comparatively low, sportsbooks and Internet sites can maintain leverage and manipulate play to their best advantage.
Once having established side and total limits in the NFL, sportsbooks can assign numbers to other sports. A sportsbook or site manager who accepts a $10,000 wager on the NFL should feel comfortable with half that amount, or $5,000, on college football. A sportsbook that takes a 10 dime side bet on the NFL might accept a wager of $3,000 on both Major League Baseball and the NBA. Total limits of $500 for baseball would be appropriate. A total limit of $300 on the NBA--where sophisticated gamblers have proven particularly adept--would be in line with a $3,000 side limit. College basketball, which has become more profitable for bet takers than the NBA version of the hardwood game, has edged closer, if not drawn even, with professional hoop limits. Where once a sportsbook that took a $3,000 pop on the NBA might only go as high as $1,000 on college basketball, the limits now have achieved equality at many outlets.
Given our example of $10,000 for an NFL ceiling, betting limits on the NHL might fit comfortably into the $2,000 range with total limits of about $300. Betting limits on hockey need not be very high because casual players rarely wager that heavily on the sport.
A major boxing attraction, especially one where the line has been solidified and it appears that substantial two-way action will result, can be booked to NFL limits. On the other hand, events such as arena football and games of the Canadian Football League, sports where oddsmakers and sportsbooks may not have as much information as they would prefer and where there is not much interest from the general public, are booked to much lower limits. Perhaps $1,000 is the right number on those sports.
Players may not always like it but setting reasonable sports betting limits is an important function of the successful bookmaker. For while the dreams of gamblers may be limitless, the money a bookmaker is willing to lose isn't.
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