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Four months after the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, ending their 86-year championship drought, then-Caesars Palace sportsbook director Chuck Esposito was sifting through baseball revenue numbers, trying to figure out why they had won so much more money than he had expected.A lot of the [Red Sox] futures tickets went uncashed. People saved those as souvenirs, Esposito recalled. It wouldnt surprise me if the same thing happened again with the Cubs.Las Vegas sportsbooks allow guests to mail in winning tickets anytime from up to 30 days to as much as a year after the event is completed. At Station Casinos, the deadline is 180 days to cash a winning ticket. (Although, being the generous bookmakers they are, the rule is loosely enforced). There are a massive amount of Cubs futures tickets out there, each with mailing instructions on the back. The Cubs, as longtime lovable losers, have always been a popular bet in Las Vegas and were often among the sportsbooks worst-case scenarios.This year, with the Cubs the favorites, even more bets showed up at the windows. Three and four times more bets were placed on the Cubs to win the World Series than on any other team. And, yet, Las Vegas still won.We actually needed the Cubs in the Series and in Game 7, Esposito, now the sportsbook director at the Sunset Station casino, said. Esposito, a Chicago native and lifelong Cubs fan, watched Wednesdays Game 7 at Brandos, a Las Vegas sports bar that caters to Chicago fans. He said the bar went silent when Cleveland Indians centerfielder Rajai Davis tied the game with a two-run home run off Cubs reliever Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning.Shortly after, Esposito elected to race home during the 17-minute rain delay between the ninth and 10th innings. He made it home and got to enjoy a special moment for him, his 12-year-old son Nicholas and all of baseball.I think [Nicholas] understood by my reaction and probably the tears in my eyes that it was something that was pretty special, said Esposito.The betting on the seven-game World Series was phenomenal, Esposito said.The overall handle for our sportsbooks and the atmosphere and excitement and the crowds, I cant remember it being like that of late for a World Series, Esposito said.Like Esposito, Aaron Kessler, sportsbook manager at the Golden Nugget, is a native of Chicago and lifelong Cubs fan. During his 10 years working at the Golden Nugget sportsbook, he had missed family events and weddings, because he couldnt get off during football season. But he made it happen for the Cubs return to the World Series.It was incredible, said Kessler, who took time off and traveled to Cleveland for Games 6 and 7. It was the first days Ive taken off during football season, other than my normal days off, in 10 years, since Ive had this job.The Golden Nugget, like most books in town, was in good position on either the Cubs or Indians winning the World Series, so Kessler didnt have to worry about rooting against his employers best interests.If my job was on the line, that would pretty much be the only thing that would prevent me from rooting for the Cubs, Kessler said with a chuckle.Stratosphere sportsbook manager Hugh Citron, another native of Chicago and lifelong Cubs fan, couldnt get off from his busy shift to watch Game 7. He caught bits and pieces of the game while working Wednesday and was back in the office entering a final score on an NHL game when he heard a loud yelp.I saw [Davis] going around the bases with his arms out and said, thats not good, Citron told ESPN. Citrons late mother and father were big Cubs fans.Im going out to the cemetery (on Monday) to put a Cubs hat and jersey on Mom and Dads grave, he added.Odds and ends-- It was another up-and-down weekend for Las Vegas sportsbooks, which saw Saturday end with back-to-back wins by heavily-bet favorites Alabama and Ohio State. The Buckeyes 62-3 rout of Nebraska produced the Westgate SuperBooks biggest loss on an overall losing day for the house. Sunday wasnt much better. The MGM sportsbook came up on the short end in four of the six early games and were hit hard by the Dallas Cowboys 35-10 blowout of the winless Cleveland Browns. However, the Indianapolis Colts outright upset of the Green Bay Packers helped the house mitigate a lot of the early losses, leading to a break-even day at the Westgate.-- Game 7 of the World Series generated big handle, but it was still far less than the Super Bowl. More than seven times more bets were placed on Super Bowl 50 on the Sunday of the game at William Hills Nevada sportsbooks than were placed Wednesday on Game 7 of the World Series.-- Updated lines at the Westgate SuperBookNov. 26: Michigan at Ohio State -4.5Nov. 26: Auburn at Alabama -14 . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. HONOLULU -- This time last year Charlie Moore was in the midst of his senior season of high school.What a difference a year makes.Moore, a freshman point guard, scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures to help California pull away from Princeton 62-51 in the Pearl Harbor Invitational Tuesday.Charlie stepped up. He stepped up and played well, California coach Cuonzo Martin said. He made plays, he made shots, he got to the rim.Moore shot 6 of 9 from the field and scored 10 points after halftime to help the Golden Bears (7-1) recover from a lackluster first half in which they shot 25 percent (8 of 32) from the field.Coach told me to assert myself a little bit more on the offensive end in the second half and make sure we execute the offense. Thats what we were struggling with in the first half, Moore said.California made up for it by shooting 66.7 percent after halftime.We got off to a slow start to the game, but I thought our guys did a great job making adjustments, Martin said.Jabari Bird scored 11 of his 13 points after halftime and Sam Singer and Grant Mullins added 11 points apiece for the Golden Bears.Princeton took a 46-44 lead following Henry Carusos 3-pointer from the left corner with 7:45 left to play, but California answered with an 11-1 run that was capped by a backdoor reverse layup by Bird off an assist from Moore.I thought they made some really big plays down the stretch -- about three or four big plays and we really struggled in that little window there and that was the difference in the game, Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said.Devin Cannady scored 16 points and Spencer Weisz added 10 for the Tigers (2-4).Princeton closed out the first half on a 4-0 run to take a 20-18 lead into halftime.There were 12 ties and 15 lead changes in the game.California dominated Princeton in both points in thhe paint (34-12) and bench scoring (24-7).ddddddddddddBIG PICTURECalifornia: The Golden Bears were a woeful 10 of 23 from the free-throw line. They made just 1 of 3 from the charity stripe in the first half and only 9 of 20 in the second. They entered the game averaging 67.5 percent for the season.Princeton: The Tigers came into the contest averaging 9.6 3-pointers made per game, but made just 1 of 11 attempts from behind the arc in the first half and finished 6 of 26 for the game.STAR WATCHCalifornia super sophomore Ivan Rabb missed his first five shots from the field and didnt score his first points until the 18:57 mark of the second half. Rabb, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound forward, was averaging 19.8 points per game. He finished with a season-low six points, but had a game-high 11 rebounds.SALUTE THE TROOPSThis is second consecutive year the Pearl Harbor Invitational is being held at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and at historic Bloch Arena, which withstood the attacks of Dec. 7, 1941. Wednesday marks the 75th anniversary of that day.Uniformed service personnel from all four branches of the military were in attendance at the 2,500-seat, open air arena for Tuesdays doubleheader, which featured Seton Hall and Hawaii in the nightcap.To see service men and women in the stands today in uniform and the colors come on the floor means a lot, Henderson said. Its a little bit of a different kind of trip, but in a really special way. We love it. Were disappointed with the loss, but this was really meaningful for us.UP NEXTCalifornia will look to extend its win streak to six games when it takes on Seton Hall Wednesday.Princeton will play Wednesday against Hawaii, the first time the two schools have met. ' ' '
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