Leonard-Hagler Dream

(as detailed in ‘Sorcery at Caesars’) Lou D’Amico had a dream. The slight and bespectacled manager of Caesars Sports Book dreamt he was in the audience at the parking lot stadium. Leonard and Hagler awaited the judges’ decision. “I can see Leonard in the ring and Hagler in the ring,” D’Amico recalled. “Then I can see Leonard with his hands up and the crowd going berserk.” D’Amico, then 40, awakened from his dream on the morning of the fight. He scurried into the Sports Book offices, summoned his four supervisors, and related his dream. “I want to have Leonard going for us in this fight,” D’Amico told them. The supervisors were speechless. “They looked at me like I had two heads,” D’Amico recalled. Normally, a sports book puts up odds that generate equal betting on both sides, and collects a modest handling commission. D’Amico proposed shifting the odds to generate more bets on Hagler. If Hagler lost, the Sports Book would pay out less than half of its handle, but if he won it would pay out more than half. In essence, D’Amico wanted the Sports Book to bet on Leonard. “How is Leonard going to win?” his supervisors asked. “I don’t know,” D’Amico said. “I just think he will.” That was how the Caesars Sports Book came to drop its odds on a Leonard victory, from 3-1 to 2 1/2-1.