Frankly Speaking

by Frank Legato

Typos, Supermodels and Robots

BetMGM needs me.

Well, maybe not me, but certainly some kind of editor. You see, editors look for typographical errors. We catch most of them before our publications go to press or go online. If BetMGM had an editor, the online sportsbook could have saved 10 grand.

BetMGM lost $10,500 on a New Jersey betting line for the January NFL playoff game between the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs. The site put up a proposition bet on the game to predict the performance of the game’s two quarterbacks, Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, BetMGM had intended to offer a prop bet on whether the two quarterbacks would pass for 300 or more yards in the game.

The problem was that whoever entered the bet into the system left out the “3” from 300. The officially posted wager was on whether the quarterbacks would pass for 00 or more yards. In other words, whether they would pass at all. Alert bettors pounced, winning $10,500 before the error was caught and corrected.

Wow. A $10,000 typo. Had an editor been utilized, the data entry clerk, presumably now unemployed, could have kept his or her job, and BetMGM’s profits could have been spared.

If BetMGM wants me to edit their prop bets, I’ll gladly do it for, say, half of each potential loss prevented. Why, it would have saved them a cool $5,000 if I’d been there in January. Instead of $1 billion in revenue this fiscal year, it could have been $1,000,005,000.

I’ll be waiting to hear from you, BetMGM.

Speaking of sportsbooks, it appears industry giant DraftKings has beefed up its team of advisers to the company’s board of directors, which already counted Hall of Fame former athletes Cal Ripken, Jr. and Michael Jordan. The baseball and basketball legends have been joined in their advisory role to the DraftKings board by an NFL legend. Well, to be more specific, an NFL legend’s wife.

Former supermodel Gisele Bündchen, the wife of future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, now advises the DraftKings board. Bündchen is an admirable person, to be sure, having established herself as an environmental activist, philanthropist and champion of social causes. But sports betting? I’m guessing she’ll be nudging Tom from time to time.

Do you think she’ll call the board if Tom wakes up on game day with an elbow cramp? I should hope so.

I’m kidding. Gisele’s got all kinds of integrity, and why on earth would she need to know about sports to advise a sportsbook operation? I’m sure rival sportsbooks will be calling on former supermodels left and right now.

Personally, I never place a sports bet before I’ve consulted with Christie Brinkley.

Moving on, in perhaps the best indication so far that we’re finally emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, Las Vegas reopened its strip clubs last month. Topless dancers can now bump and grind with patrons in person once again, as long as they’ve had at least one Covid-19 shot. If they’re unvaccinated, they have to stay at least 3 feet from customers. (I’m guessing that would make it awful hard for customers to shove cash into their garters.)

The dancers also have to wear masks. (I would expect creative tiger-face or pirate masks. In fact, I would demand it.) And I’m guessing there are no lap dances allowed yet. I’ve quite honestly never been to a topless bar, but we can all cheer the fact that the Las Vegas tradition of topless dancing has been resurrected in the form of women on poles, masked and socially distanced, and who have had their shots.

Viva Las Vegas! Finally, speaking of the Covid-19 pandemic, among the changes we could begin to see soon in Las Vegas are robot food and beverage servers. Yes, a robot could soon be bringing you your roast beef sandwich or your Maker’s on the rocks. Korea’s Paradise Hotel Busan is currently testing an “AI Serving Robot” as part of its plan to reduce face-to-face contact amid the pandemic.

According to news reports, the robot is being deployed for three months at the Nyx Grill and Wine restaurant, where it will deliver food and collect used dishes from tables without the need of employing potentially diseased humans.

I hate this. I like human interaction. I like motherly servers who call me “Hon” when they bring my omelet. The Korean robot doesn’t even look the part. It looks like a computer with dishes. At least they could have made it look like the robot maid on The Jetsons.

Or better yet, like Christie Brinkley.