Just an FYI regarding Lagasse's Stadium...

I was there on Sunday, September 21, 2014.

I got in line to bet about 30 minutes prior to kickoff for the early games. 930 local time.

They had two ticket writers at the desk. One of those ticket writers was on parlay cards and the other was taking general bets. There were approximately two dozen people in line ahead of me. I got to the head of the line at 10am right before they stop taking bets. Fortunately, I saw it coming and texted another friend at the Mirage to put in a few bets for me... but there were people in the line that were yelling and very pissed off at the length of time it was taking to write each bet. I really thought there was going to be a riot.

I guess the moral of the story is... either get there very early and get in your bets... or place your bets elsewhere.

 

it's not the tellers, its the idiots placing the bets that dont know what the hell they are doing. Place the NFL bets sunday night when the lines come out, you will get the best numbers to fire at.

 

it was definitely a combination of the idiots that aren't prepared and stand there in front of the ticket writers and don't know how to bet. But, having two ticket writers on Sunday morning is ridiculous. One woman got up there and placed about ten 5 team parlays for $10 and $20 each. Took her nearly five minutes with five minutes left before game time. She's the main reason I didn't get my money down.

 

Pretty sure this is an issue at any sports book. If there are more betters at the last minute than tellers to handle the load, $hit happens. Bigger issue at a small place like that with only 2 tellers. And, I would guess there are more amateurs that decide to place a bet in a place like that then at real sports books. And more last minute.

 

It's always an issue. But, my friends were at the Mirage and I texted them with 5 minutes left until kickoff and I had the ticket texted to me before kickoff. I was in line at Lagasse's for 30 minutes and didn't reach the head of the line. That's pretty unacceptable, IMO.

Believe me... I've been doing football Sundays in Vegas for at least 12 years. I've sat in Lagasse's twice, when it was the sports book bar once, and Jay Z's 40/40 once. They haven't always had ticket writers at the bottom of the stadium... that just came about four years ago. I've been in many of the books up and down the strip on gameday morning (Aria, Wynn, Mirage (many, many times), Venetian (before Cantor), Caesars, NYNY, Mandalay, Bellagio) and I've never, ever witnessed what I witnessed at Lagasse's that morning. It was a complete disaster.

I won't be going back there if I'm planning to bet or eat (the food is remarkably bad for a celebrity chef).

I'll bet and eat elsewhere. It's still a great place to watch a game though.

 

To have that happen as a consequence of someone betting 5 team parlays adds insult to injury by my take.
I'm sure you didn't have to wait behind her to cash.

 

I'm sure she didn't cash. It was a bit ridiculous and certainly selfish of her. Literally getting my ticket done would have taken about 5 seconds.

 

This might sound like i don't feel the pain re: the ten-ticket parlay bettor, but I'm curious (since I almost always pass on sports betting given that I'm lousy at it)....

Is it standard operating etiquette that a parlay player should get out of the way of a more serious bettor (moneyline, etc) if time's about to run out on getting wagers in to the writer? Or is it just in this particular case that she should've been aware of the clock, the line of people behind her, and her low EV bets --- and been more considerate than to stand there doing multiple tickets?

 

There is no unwritten rule about doing a parlay right before kickoff in a long line full of people trying to make straight bets. But saying "301 for $500" cash in hand and having him printing the ticket literally would have taken 5 seconds. Was it selfish? IMO it was. Did she do it purposefully? No.

It was really the fault of the book. They should have had more ticket writers up there. And, since they didn't, they should have told everyone straight bets only (unless they were running parlay cards). Then they should have told everyone to have their number and money ready. They should have said each bettor has 10 seconds to place a bet once they get to the front of the line. Once their time is up, they must go to the back of the line if they have additional bets to place. That would have had everyone ready by the time they got to the front and they wouldn't have had people upset about not getting bets in.

Just my opinion, but I'm pretty sure that's the way I would have handled things.

 

Thanks for the reply. Sounds reasonable.

 

I was there that day and did notice a massive queue - I was going to pick some random teams and put some money on but didn't bother because of the line. We thought the food was pretty good - not amazing but definitely had far worse.

 

I've always thought about getting a t-shirt made that say's NO HANDICAPPING AT THE WINDOW but the idiots it's supposed to offend wouldn't even know what it meant. I'm sure a few ticket writers would find it amusing though.