GOT A CRAZY SPORTS BETTING STORY?

On an usually torrid June afternoon in Las Vegas, while lunching on a turkey club sandwich and a glass of iced tea at Egg Works, Jay Rood recounted his steps up the sportsbook ladder. It started quite on the bottom rung, as a ticket author at Caesars Lake Tahoe in 1992.


"I just desired to enter business and ski, and Tahoe appeared like the spot," Rood, a New Mexico native, informed Covers. "I skied as soon as while there, and the task board at Caesars had a post that stated 'sports author.' I believed to myself, 'Well, I was not the best at composing in college, however let's see what it's all about. Young and dumb!


"I believed I was going to an interview for composing about sports. I didn't understand it was a teller position till the interview. After an hour with Gene Kivi, which I was told was about 50 minutes longer than any other interview he ever did, I had the job. And I was eliminated to understand that I wasn't going to have to test my journalism abilities."


In late 1993, Rood got an opportunity to leap to Las Vegas, again as a ticket author, this time part of the team opening the brand-new sportsbook at the MGM Grand. That marked the start of more than 25 years at MGM Resorts for Rood, who worked his way up each level, eventually becoming the company's vice president of race and sports in 2008.


But with the sports betting landscape considerably changing and broadening in the past year - thanks to the Supreme Court overruling the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act - brand-new opportunities was plentiful, particularly for someone as experienced and well-respected as Rood. So in May, two-and-half decades after signing up with MGM, Rood chose it was time to leave the company and look for a new obstacle.


It didn't take long to discover it, as on June 18, Rood accepted the post of primary danger officer for Bet.Works, a U.S.-based iGaming and sportsbook platform.


"It felt like the correct time," Rood stated, while describing that Bet.Works is a complete turnkey service for clients aiming to go into the sportsbook specific niche. "We have actually positioned ourselves as distinctively American. Our main focus is American sports. We have a truly good executive group. The individuals put together for this team are most likely the primary factor I decided to go. It's an interesting chance."


Bet.Works anticipates its sportsbook platforms - both land-based and mobile - to be especially attractive to market newcomers outside Nevada and New Jersey. That said, the very first customer to launch will be sports mobile app giant Ball game, with a targeted August launching of a mobile wagering app in the New Jersey market.


"There's a specific comfort level I had entering into this," Rood said. "Being a B2B (business-to-business) provider, rather than an operator, is a various obstacle, certainly different than my 25 years with MGM. But I have no doubt that MGM will continue to do well in the sportsbook industry."


Rood's profession is dotted with unforgettable minutes behind the counter, almost all of them - that first interview notwithstanding - coming at MGM properties. Following are the 5 minutes he considered most unforgettable:


The Night The Lights Headed Out


On the night of Saturday, August 31, 2002, the UNLV football team opened its season at home versus Wisconsin. The Badgers, who brought with them to Vegas a legion of fans, opened as 3-point favorites, but the line surged to as much 6 or 7 points.


With Wisconsin rolling 27-7 and Badgers bettors eager to cash those tickets, the arena lights went out with 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. The video game did not resume, as Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez and UNLV coach John Robinson accepted call it, providing the Badgers a 27-7 victory.


That would appear like a Wisconsin cover, also, except that Nevada sportsbooks have a guideline that 55 of the 60 minutes of guideline should be finished for an outcome to be main. The game fell a couple minutes short of that requirement.


"I was the shift manager on task that night at the MGM," Rood remembers. "There were a great deal of people at the video game, and a lot had actually come back early since Wisconsin was method ahead. So they were filtering back into the hotel, concerning the book to cash their tickets."


But that guideline prevented such deals, implying all bets on both sides were refunded, much to the shame and suspicion of Wisconsin backers. Rood, however, said the suspicion was ill-founded, a minimum of at MGM.


"We required Wisconsin, due to the fact that UNLV was a wiseguy play since the number had run a lot," he stated. "We were on the very same side as all the Wisconsin people, and they had no idea. They presumed we required UNLV which we were doing this to screw them."


Rood recalled connecting to then-MGM Grand vice president Debbie Nutton, who assisted create an option to quell the riled-up crowd.


"Everybody's shrieking. So I call Debbie and state, 'What are we gon na do?' She stated to to the bar and inform anyone in red that they can drink free of charge till we close."


That just amounted to about an hour, as the video game ended late Saturday night.


"It didn't appease many," Rood said. "That was an intriguing night."


Y2Krazy - Or Not


On New Year's Eve 1999, Rood could again be discovered on the night shift at the MGM Grand book. Together with it being the turn of the millennium, it was a Friday night, so the Vegas Strip was as insane as it's ever been for New Year's celebrations.


There was likewise great concern over the so-called Y2K bug. Many thought that at the stroke of midnight, computers would go haywire and there 'd be all sorts of communication issues and such.


"Nobody understood what to expect," Rood stated. "We had a ticket writer so went crazy by Y2K that he quit four months earlier, relocated to Texas and became an end ofthe world preparer."


Rood wasn't preparing for completion of days, but he did have a just-in-case service that night.


"We usually remain open late, however everyone believed turmoil was gon na occur, so we closed early and took all the cash to the gambling establishment cage," Rood stated. "Me and one author remained until midnight, and if nothing occurred, we were gon na reopen til 1 a.m. But we didn't resume. It was a bizarre scenario. It was dead in the casino. Y2K passed very quietly in the sportsbook world."


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Bite Night


On June 28, 1997, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson clashed for a second time at the MGM Grand Garden, a few months after Holyfield made an upset technical knockout of Tyson. The rematch itself was rather a phenomenon, with Tyson disqualified following the 3rd round after twice biting Holyfield's ears.


That wasn't nearly as much a concern for Rood as what took location on the nearby casino flooring at the MGM Grand Hotel. As fight fans submitted out of the arena and into the casino, some idea they heard gunshots.


"A champagne bottle, a gunshot, whatever it was, all I know is we had bars on the sportsbook cage, which I valued that night," Rood said. "We were by an exit to the pool. A bunch of individuals were going through the sportsbook to the swimming pool. Me and my crew hit the deck and army-crawled to the back room. I called the casino cage and stated we need security. We had a lot of cash on hand in the book, because of the battle.


"My wife called and asked if I was all right. I said, 'Yeah, but how do you understand what's going on?' She said, 'It's all over CNN.' And we turned on the TV, and there was the huge green structure."


As it turned out, the shots-fired scare was an incorrect alarm, as police later determined there was no gunplay that evening.


"Bite Night was fascinating," Rood stated. "Being the night manager at a sportsbook, you see an awful lot."


Looks Can Be Deceiving


The Sunday night video game on opening weekend of the 2014-15 NFL season was a dandy, with Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts taking a trip to Denver to deal with the Broncos, led by former Colts QB Peyton Manning. The Broncos opened as 7-point favorites and reached as high as -9, before the video game closed at 8.


One wagerer at The Mirage was particularly crazy about Luck and the Colts - a lot more so than Rood expected upon first glance.


"This is the 'Don't judge a book by its cover' story," Rood stated, noting the bettor was disheveled, to put it nicely. "He asks just how much he might bank on the Colts. I stated, 'Buddy, you can empty your pockets.' He pulled out an old Walmart bag and starting pulling out $100 bills. He stated he wanted to bet $200,000. So I was type of captured off guard."


Rood had to run that wager by higher-ups to get approval.


"He desired the Colts +7.5. It was Luck vs. Manning, and the Colts lose by 7," Rood remembered, with Indy covering on a touchdown with 3:26 staying in a 31-24 loss. "As nondescript as he came up when he wager, he returned, got his money, put it in the old Walmart bag and left. I never ever saw him again.


"That taught me the art of negotiation. Understand what they wish to do before you put your foot in your mouth. It certainly helped with Bettor X."


Which brings us to ...


Bettor X and Mattress Mack


The 2017 World Series between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers helped introduce the betting world - and numerous in the general public - to Bettor X. But before Bettor X got his name, he was just a semi-regular gamer at MGM books.


"He was a guy we had actually dealt with betting blended martial arts," Rood stated, keeping in mind the client was eastern European. "He had a really high hit rate, not necessarily wagering big favorites. He 'd choose favorites and 'dogs, 2 to 3 on every card.


"Then he revealed up for the World Series of Astros-Dodgers. And we had another gentleman, Mattress Mack, wagering too," Rood stated, mentioning the Houston furniture shop owner who had used a big refund promotion to his consumers if the Astros won the title. "He was attempting to hedge the Astros."


Bettor X was wagering game-by-game, while Mattress Mack was mainly banking on the series rate as it adjusted with each game. However, both bet on Game 1, with Bettor X taking L.A. - which notched a 3-1 success - and Mattress Mack losing on his hometown group. Both bettors were throwing around seven-figure wagers throughout the series.


Rood and his danger team were able to manage the liability from both wagerers by adjusting video game and series costs to attract cash from the rest of MGM's consumers.


"We had truly excellent action and we were in a great position," he said. But unsatisfactory to withstand Bettor X. "We might never get him. He went back and forth, zig-zagging on the games, and he went 6-0 wagering seven figures. It was so volatile, but he kept getting there on his plays."


Bettor X decided versus banking on Game 7 - Houston won it to claim the championship - however he wasn't finished with MGM books right now.


"He strolls away that night, and our next interaction is Eagles moneyline in the Super Bowl against the Patriots, for $3 million at +150," Rood remembered, noting another big ticket that cashed after Philadelphia's 41-33 upset triumph. "I would not call him a sophisticated gambler. We accommodated his bets by moving the price on him a bit and getting buyback in the market. But that was just an unprecedented run. He had a remarkable quantity of luck."


Patrick Everson is a Las Vegas-based senior author for Covers. Follow him on Twitter: @Covers_Vegas.