Bet He Misses

Just caught this from the NYT, some casinos are distributing little handheld units that not only let you place traditional wagers but also on in-game events.  From the article:

Gamblers can also for the first time wager on the outcomes of events as the events transpire. When a football team lines up for a field goal, for example, bettors can bet on whether the kicker will make it or miss.

To crunch the in-game odds they leaned on financial algorithms:

The betting during events option is called in-running betting, and Lee Amaitis, chief executive of Cantor Gaming, says oddsmakers have dreamed of this for decades but have lacked the number-crunching resources to hang lines at game speed.

To solve this problem, Cantor Gaming sets its in-game lines based upon algorithms from the financial services world. Mr. Amaitis says these algorithms are variations of those created by a sister company, Cantor Index, a financial spread-betting company in London that offers bets on various markets including equities, indices, bonds and commodities.

Tempting man.  Football seems ok, but I imagine the in-game feature wagering could make the back nine of PGA events pretty wild.

And speaking of sports betting, the news of Texas Tech coach Mike Leach getting suspended for Alamo Bowl game against the Spartans sent the line into a tizzy – here’s M Casino line over the past 24 hours (thanks Biggie Munn for forwarding):