Gaming Technology 1979 to present: Closing the gap on the 'Makers
The opportunity today for those that pursue Profitable Sports Gaming to be as adroit and agile as the bookmaker is a reality. One needs only the inner drive to be excellent, study time and a reliable computer. Here is a true story about technologies growth in the last 34 years and its application to Profitable Sports Gaming.
The 1979 Orange Bowl:
Lou Holtz Coached the Arkansas Razorbacks in 1979. That January 1st they were lined up to play in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma and stalwart Billy Sims. By kick Orange bowl coaches, players and fans realized that this game would now be for the National Championship of College Football (Joe Montana's Notre Dame Team defeated #1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl earlier that day).
Days before the game Coach Lou Holtz suspended his top 2 running backs for team rules violations. These two accounted for 75% of the Hogs offensive production during the regular season. Gaming Enthusiasts following college football at the time understood this to be a mortal blow to the Arkansas National Championship hopes. Though the team protested the suspensions, the headstrong leader of young men Coach Holtz stuck to his guns and made the tough decision... the suspensions would stick. At that point in time Uncle Louie thought Coach Lou to be a complete whack job! Who would suspend their best players before the biggest game of the year not to mention playing for a national Championship? The lesson Holtz displayed to his team and those watching closely that night educated me as much about leadership as any single event up to that time had. Lou Holtz is a man to admire.
The Line:
Prior to the suspension announcement the Razorbacks were +17 point hounds to the Sooners. Upon the news of the suspensions, the number skyrocketed to Hogs +24 as the public pounded the Sooners. Most were confident that all Oklahoma had to do was show up, blow out the Hogs then hoist the hardware.
OUR Circumstances:
My mentor at that time and to this day (my folks would not agree with ‘mentor') was trying to convince me that the Razorbacks were the play (we were down large and needing to make up what we had lost for we had about sixteen bucks between us). He believed that there was a chance of rain in Miami and believed that the adverse weather would help keep the game close (remember now that we are in sub-zero weather in Omaha, Ne. with 1979 technology and 2013 debt potential). I thought he was out of his cotton picking mind as I (squarer than rubrics cube) was very aware that the Billy Simms led Sooners were going to be too much for the Hogs to harness! My Mentor was great. He was a natural contrarian who taught me in a philosophical sense close to everything we utilize as a foundation today. He loved the extra seven point advantage. He loved being ‘of the few’. Come hell or high water he was going to find a way to take advantage of this added value. He just needed the reason why. With him in every angle and process was the neophyte Uncle Louie watching, questioning and learning every step of the way.
The Technology of the day:
In today's Gaming environ we simply hit the internet and go to weather.com and access immediately the micro climate in North Jersey or SoCal for that matter! Also available at the touch of a finger are outstanding gaming sites at our disposal today.
Sites such as: GamingToday.com, AgainsttheNumber.com, Spittingwinners.com, SharpbettingTalk.com, GambLou.com, ToddsTake.com, DonBestSports.com and oh so many more are available for the gathering of information and knowledge!
Information is easily accessible for all today but not then.
Technology in 1978 Enthusiasts was a hard wired phone on the wall. If one was really comprehensive one would send guys to the airport in the early AM to snatch any newspapers from other cities left on the lounge chairs in order to gain an edge on weather, injury or whatever angle we could usurp from that old leftover rag. Back in the day ingenuity was the determining factor for the 'wise'.
Accurate, timely weather information was almost impossible to attain in the late 70’s without long distance phone use or waiting for the 10 O’clock news. Neither was sufficient to satisfy these two up and coming opinion makers though! If discovered, accurate weather information just like timely injury info would provide any gamer of the day a distinct advantage. Back then we were a couple of young marbles in huge financial holes. We desperately needed an advantage, an angle, anything in this final game of the day to keep us out of the dog house with "The Man". We were double down dumb shits no doubt!
What my mentor showed me that evening before the game was an ingenious way for us to gain advantage in this last game of New Year's Day. His idea blew me away in its simplicity. We (he) utilized the only tool we had, the telephone.
We were motivated to be inventive in our dedication to gain advantage. We needed a solution and my mentor showed me how to use my head that night.
The Solution:
Mr. Mentor went upstairs with me in tow to use the teen phone (we were at his folks home). He then called information for a local Miami luxury Hotel. When connected he asked for the concierge. I still had no clue what he was doing until he, posing as an out of town guest due to arrive that evening asked the concierge about the weather conditions currently and what they were expected to be in 3-4 hours when he landed! Ha. Uncle Louie now knew what we were accomplishing. The concierge (his name was Hector....still remember) could not have been more accommodating when asked for the local weather conditions. Hector told us that it was raining like a typhoon in Miami he was after all just doing his job. He even stated that he thought the rainy weather was getting worse in time not improving! We had smiles like little kids eating ice cream!
We slammed that phone down and immediately called our local book to unloaded on the Hogs. I had a couple hundie on the game. As a college kid two bills was more than I could have afforded to lose needless to say. My ballsy mentor who was also in college at the time had a couple thousand on the game! He could not afford to lose that kind of loot either. We were simply put, marbles, squares…dummies in double down mode! Jeezzz.
Roland Scales:
So we slam that phone down after wagering money we did not have then race downstairs to watch the game.
Oklahoma receives the opening kick-off and the game is on. On the 3rd play of the game Billy Simms coughs up the pigskin and the Razorbacks grab ball in Sooner territory!
Some unknown third string running back named Roland Scales (a name I will remember the rest of my life) is replacing the suspended RB's Holtz had ousted. Scales comes in and not only scores on that first possession to put the Razorbacks up 7-0 but he dominates the Sooners that night in a torrential thunderstorm. Our early anxiety very quickly turned into elevated elation as we watched Roland Scales rip, tear and gash the Sooner D one play after another on that sloppy field with torrential rain pouring throughout the game.
Scales finished the game with 257 total yards and a couple of TD's in an Arkansas 31-6 route.
Lessons Learned:
We learned Profitable Sports Gaming rules to live by that night namely:
1- The public knows little.
2- Be ingenious in your ambition to ethically and legally gain advantage through any means available in order to attain value and realize an edge.
3- Lou Holtz ran his teams with an iron fist. There was no democracy in his organization and to this day we believe that the only approach to winning team football.
Given a couple weeks or better to prepare for any football game Holtz would bury an opponent. This particular lesson would prove to be valuable because moving forward we won mucho dinero on Coach Holtz in the following decades because of this newly discovered knowledge of how directed a football team utilizing uncompromising football philosophy. Damn we respected the way Lou coached!
4- Play within your means. It was difficult enough to sit down and watch that Orange bowl game especially understanding how financially strapped we were at kickoff. I was completely amazed at my mentors' cool demeanor during this whole period as I was a ball of nerves already wondering how to get the cash to pay "The Man". He meanwhile was as unemotional Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry in the 70’s.
Technology in 1979 is a misnomer when compared to the cell phones, internet and @Twitter world of today. Our advice is…
Use your ingenuity and the tool of technology to gain advantage and uncover value!
GambLou.com Profitable Sports Gaming