Cantor Gaming is embarking on a (hopefully) more permanent gig by signing on to develop and operate a race/sportsbook at the Silverton Casino Hotel. The Las Vegas property currently contains a Leroy’s sportsbook (now owned by Cantor rival William Hill) which will close at an as yet unspecified date. Cantor says it expects to have its own operation – including its proprietary mobile gaming product – up and running by October. Cantor operates multiple sportsbooks in Vegas and just inked its first deal in California.
But hold the phone. This may not be the best time to double down on Vegas’ sports betting future, what with boxer/high-roller Floyd Mayweather Jr. in prison and party animal par excellence Charlie Sheen claiming he’s through with betting. Sheen recently informed the New York Times: “I don’t bet anymore. I’m a retired gambler.” However, like Brett Favre’s many retirements, Sheen may have left the door slightly ajar. “Not a recovering gambler. Big difference. I’ll still look at the lines. I’ll be like, yeah, that’s a blowout, that’s a 40-point blowout. Easy, right?” Of course it is. Which is why we’re writing this from the comfort of our private island off the coast of Aruba.
Sheen says his biggest bet was a “million dollars” on boxer Manny Pacquiao’s 2008 tilt with Oscar De La Hoya. “It was a wrong-way spread and I had a dream a week before that [Manny] was going to beat De La Hoya like a drum, and he did.” But Charlie says the thrill of savoring his winnings just wasn’t there. “It was like, pfffft, whatever. I felt nothing.” (Probably just too numb from all the blow.) “I went, okay, there’s nothing left for me here. Unless my children are involved in the wager, no sense in making it, you know?” We’re hesitant to ask whether “involved” means Charlie letting his kids make his betting picks, or whether he planned to offer one of them up as a stake for a spin of the roulette wheel.
If Charlie really does plan on wagering his kid on a spin of roulette, he may want to bet on 19, especially if he’s playing at the Rio. On Monday, pro poker player Jeff Romano snapped the below photo of the roulette wheel display showing an improbable seven straight times in which No. 19 came up a winner. The Beyond the Best site claims the odds of such an occurrence are 114 billion to 1. The Caesars Entertainment casino has yet to comment on whether the machine may have been mistakenly greased with some of Charlie’s Tiger Blood.