Online Sportsbooks Have Edge Over Vegas

Here's one advantage the offshore books have over those on the Strip: They can post odds on anything they want to. In Vegas, sports books can only make numbers for events whose outcomes are determined on the field of play. For example, you'll never find odds at the Hilton on how soon until Al Davis morphs into Montgomery Burns. There's a good chance Davis, who knows the answer, will make a bet and break the book.

But offshore the books can do as they please. And the folks at Mickey Richardson's Bookmaker.com have come up with some doozy prop bets to get people primed for the NFL season. (Here's where we dutifully note that online betting is technically illegal in the U.S.) Bookmaker.com covers the really important stuff, like who is most likely to be the first player arrested this year (Corey McIntyre)? And who is the next celebrity Tony Romo will date (Megan Fox)?

"Most of the ideas for these props will come from customers who are asking about them," Richardson told me on the phone a couple weeks ago. "But there is a desire to bet on this, whether it's people in the office discussing this or wherever, if someone has an opinion we will try to develop some odds."

Some of the names and numbers you can expect to see in the first-to-be-arrested prop: Randy Starks, the Dolphins defensive lineman, who was arrested last May for running into a cop with his truck. The moneyline on him is +450 (meaning bet $100 to win $450.). Another big name listed is Chargers LB Shaun Phillips, at +550. Last April Phillips was arrested for hitting a hotel security guard.

"We wing it the best we can with the odds," says Richardson. "But we tried to pick players who were in recent trouble."

The limits on these bets aren't very high, just $5 or $10. And the really good ones get around 100 or so people gambling on them. The biggest props, however, have nothing to do with sports. Odds on hurricane damage are big. American Idol and the Oscars get a lot of action. A few years ago, odds on who was going to be indicted from the Enron scandal did really well.

The first-to-be-arrested prop had nearly 130 bets less than ten days after it was posted. The Top Three Bet Getters Are

Phillips

Matt Jones +550

Brandon Marshall +650

Here's a full list of the options:

QUINN OJINNAKA, OL, ATLANTA FALCONS +550

RANDY STARKS, DE, MIAMI DOLPHINS +450

COREY MCINTYRE, FB, BUFFALO BILLS +350

ANTHONY MIX, WR, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS +450

BIREN EALY, WR, AND KOLOMONA KAPANUI, TE, SAINTS +450

SHAUN PHILLIPS, LB, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS +550

DONTE WHITNER, DB, BUFFALO BILLS +600

MATT JONES, WR, JACKSONVILLE +550

BRANDON MARSHALL, WR, DENVER BRONCOS +650

DONTE STALLWORTH, WR, CLEVELAND BROWNS +700

MARSHAWN LYNCH RB BUFFALO BILLS +800