For years, I have been asked “what do you do?” a lot. Another one is “what does an oddsmaker do?”
For over 20 years, I have worked in a book. Various roles, positions and responsibilities. Even had a fancy title or two, which I am not a big fan of...
thanks to the Original Consig, my Dad, Big E..
He has been gone seven years and I miss him every day, but I still hear his “Elliottisms” every day..
You never knew when they were coming, but they would hit you like a sledgehammer when they did..
And they were delivered in..
his own, one of a kind style..
Big E started as a stock boy and ended up owning the business..
When people asked him what he did, he would say “Work.”
What do they call you? “Elliott”
What’s your title? “Titles are for movies. I don’t have one.”
He had an answer for...
whatever question you asked him, and if he didn’t, he had a guy..
They say you become your parents. I am guilty as charged and proud of it.
Somehow, my boys in the book even started calling me “Big Dave” and that stuck..but you can call me jagoff and I’ll answer...
So,
To that as well..Just be ready for a little zing zing, AKA back and forth..
So, back to the original question, “what do you do?”
To sum it up, I sat in a book, stared at a screen, talked to people and took bets. Watched the games and took more bets.
A lot of times, we would..
make numbers. Before screens, algorithms, betting bots, and the professionals who have it all figured out, there were guys who made numbers on the back of napkins and booked it out of their pockets.
Everything is different now, and like life, it’s adapt or die. The smartest..
guys I know learn every day, and it’s a challenge.
Gambling twitter will have you convinced there are like four guys sitting in some place in some office in some country with all the numbers...
Don’t get me wrong, there are those guys. But there are guys all over who are..
really good too. And they are sharp. But they aren’t always right either. And that is the challenge. And that is what makes it all a battle.
But it can be fun. And that’s what I’m gong to do here. Have fun.
In celebration of Halloween, here is the Consig Power Rankings of...
the Top 25 Candy of 2020..
From 25 down to 1, each one will have a school and a description..
This is my list, and like I say about sports gambling, nobody knows shit..but everybody knows candy..
Don’t give me the “I don’t eat candy” nonsense either. If you don’t, you did..
as a kid..who doesn’t like football and candy? I went right to the source, kids in my life, and here is what we got:
25- Almond Joy- Boise St, a unique taste & flavor, only good when it’s cold
24- Whoppers- Washington- You eat them & wonder why you thought they were good...
23- Smarties- Oklahoma St- could be any Big 12 school, good for a year then you don’t want them for awhile
22- Junior Mints- Central Fla- only good once or twice, fan base thinks they are better than they are
21- Haribo Gummy Bears- Arizona St- just feels like a cool Pac12..
school.
20- Dum Dum Lollipops- West Virginia- doesn’t matter what flavor, the name, the state, the jokes write themselves..
19- Nerds- Northwestern/Stanford- Ivy League schools weren’t eligible
18- Payday- Auburn- rabid fan base, not for everybody, good when good...
But not consistent..
17- Tootsie Pops- Texas- Hard on the outside, soft in the middle
16- Sour Patch Kids- Florida- start out good, but end up making that face at the end
15- Butterfinger- Iowa- Midwest, grinders, just keep showing up
14- Laffy Taffy- UCLA- always looks..
good, unis are cool, but ends up sticky
13- Swedish Fish- Miami-Fla- kids love em, and grown ups do too but won’t admit it
12- Nestle Crunch- Wisconsin- consistent, boring, good more often than not
11- Skittles- Oregon- so many uniform combos, but all the young people love em
10- Milky Way- Notre Dame- looks good in the uniforms but can’t compete with the big boys..
9- Hershey’s- Penn State- sans wrapper for 100 years, classy uni, never changes..
8- Starburst- Georgia- popular, looks good, nobody likes the yellow
7- 100 Grand- strong pedigree &..
Matches the name and hype
6- Peanut M&M’s- Michigan- not everybody likes nuts, but the coach is nuts and they love em..
5- Twizzlers- LSU- highly underrated mostly, disrespected often, but man, is it good when it all works
4- Kit Kat- Oklahoma- always around, but...
breaks apart easily, melts bad in the heat..
3- Reese’s- Ohio State- some people’s number one, but peanut butter keeps them out of the top spot like the Big 10
2- Twix- Clemson- always good, always delivers, doesn’t have much competition because of their conference..
And...
Number one- Snickers- Alabama- simple. Always at the top, year after year, it satisfies..
Not receiving votes:
Caramello, Mounds, 3 Musketeers, Mallo Cups and Candy Corn. You can have them all.
Halloween, enjoy college football, and let the debates begin..
College football Saturday is such an electric day in the book...
You get maybe 16 Saturdays every year when there are games on from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep...
It all starts with College Gameday and ends with a late night...
Pac12 after dark or Hawaii home game...
The energy in a book in Vegas starts slow and builds to a crescendo...
When you open at the crack ass of dawn, you have your people still finishing their night before, and they haven’t even started with the black coffee yet..
You have...
people trying their best to close deals, and I ain’t talking about business..
People would ask me for picks or tips at the counter all the time..
In between banging out parlays, sometimes, you had to save some people...not like a reverend or a rabbi, but like a good wingman..
So there is a topic going around the gambling world right now that has people pretty fired up...
Big bets...are they a story or not? Should reporters report them? Do people care?
No matter what side of the counter you sit on, gambling stories are...
like fishing stories...
Most are rooted in fact, some are complete bullshit, but, in all likelihood, the best stories are embellished and have some flavor and context added.
Like a gourmet dish, a little dash of this, a sprinkle of that, and voila, you go from a nasty ass...
piece of fish to a delightful piece of healthy salmon (keep in mind, I’m limiting my red meat intake right now otherwise it would have been a steak reference)
Anyways, these stories and bets have been around since the mobs were betting on Maximus back in the empire days...
We made it to October 1st, and all things feel right with the day in sports. ⚾️ & 🏈 on a Thursday.
We have postseason baseball games..the Twins are out, the Yankees are in, and the Astros keep banging the can.
The storylines are strong & the drama...
of postseason baseball makes for an electric day in the book...
Opinions are plentiful, experts scattered throughout, bettors questioning every manager’s move and anyone with a set of eyes yelling at the umpire’s strike zone...
I’ve shared many October days in the book with...
complete strangers, watching games and listening to bad beats...
No NBA, no NHL, no college football today...just baseball...
Aces trying to save their team’s season pitching into the shadows...baserunning gaffes costing teams a run and a guy his first five inning total...