Lem Banker talks life, love and betting sports

If there's one person whose name is synonymous with sports betting in Las Vegas, it's Lem Banker, famous for his gambling prowess, his celebrity friends and his straight-shooting opinions. For this column, I spoke with Banker during a difficult period in his personal life. He told the story of his greatest upset victory -- and his greatest love.

On their first date, the gambler and the beauty queen went to the races at Monmouth Park on the Jersey shore.

Delores Vicario, who went by Debbie, was a model in New York’s Garment District and a showgirl at the Riviera hotel in Havana.

Lester Banker, who went by Lem, was still a small-timer, though he would go on to become the most celebrated professional sports bettor in Las Vegas.

If bettors think they're above this football seminar, they likely need it

The Vegas Insider football handicapping seminar, scheduled for this weekend at Red Rock Resort, appeals primarily to beginning and intermediate-level sports bettors.

This is an ideal target audience, considering those two groups encompass just about all of us.

Certainly an advanced, or professional, bettor would also find some value in the seminar’s panels of oddsmakers and top handicappers from Las Vegas and elsewhere. It’s just that truly advanced sports bettors are so few in number they’re hardly worth considering in creating a mainstream event such as the Vegas Insider seminar, designed to attract the betting public.

Why lines predict more wins than expected

Barring some unusual circumstances, a total of 256 cumulative victories is expected in the NFL this regular season.

It’s easy enough to arrive at that figure: There are 32 teams in the league, each with a 16-game schedule.

Yet in Las Vegas, where bettors wager on the over/under of the number of each NFL team’s regular-season victories, the projected cumulative total of victories for the league always comes in a bit higher than 256.

Today, for example, the consensus figure — determined by adding up the over/under total on the board for each individual team — stands at around 259 1/2 victories.

Nonito Donaire: Super fly wants to be the Bruce Lee of boxing

Nonito Donaire has a world championship belt on his boxing resume, along with a 4-0 record in title fights.

He has superb technical skills, he’s physically imposing for his weight class and he packs knockout power in both fists.

Donaire also has charisma to spare, a trait that has helped him develop a rabid cult following among boxing fans, and one that will serve him well as he aims to establish himself as the most prominent fighter in the sport’s lighter weight divisions.

Yes/no wagers gain foothold in sports books

Every so often, sports gamblers or oddsmakers make a push for “yes/no” betting lines as the wave of the future.

Or future books, as it were.

That means gamblers should have the opportunity not only to bet on a particular team to win its championship game, but also to bet the team will not do so, at a reasonable price.

With justified swagger, Jerry's Nugget offers best parlay bets in Las Vegas

Veterans of Las Vegas sports betting know the same wager can yield varying, sometimes significantly different, payouts depending on where it’s placed.

That’s certainly the case in football parlays, the popular form of wagering in which gamblers choose two or more games from the board and combine them into a single bet. All (or both) of the picks in the parlay must win against the point spread for the parlay to be successful.

If you’re a parlay player in Las Vegas, it’s important to your bankroll that you bet at a sports book that offers strong payout odds.