Word: spreading
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...final gun sounded, he received a call from the Churchill Downs bookie parlor across town and announced his initial betting line for the Super Bowl: "Miami by six." Within seconds Martin's pick, subject to later change, was being posted at Churchill Downs. Within minutes the point spread was being flashed to bookies across the country as the most authoritative gambling line for this Sunday's championship game...
Bookies' Vigorish. For every one of them, the crucial number is the point spread. Bets on most other sports are based on traditional odds. Football books always quote a point spread designed to be large enough to attract some bettors to the underdog, yet tight enough to be a hedge for the bookies if the favorite has had a bad day. For the Super Bowl, Dolphin fans who put down their bets early will collect only if their team wins by six points or more. A Viking bet will pay off if Minnesota manages to lose by fewer than...
Determination of the point spread is a fine, intuitive art practiced by an elite group of Las Vegas odds makers. Though Martin, 54, has officially retired from the Churchill Downs Sports Book, he remains the chief prophet of the establishment known as "the Church." More-publicized experts, such as Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder, have been known to check their picks against Martin's. "There's nothing mysterious about setting the line," Martin insists. During the regular season, when spreads are selected for the 13 games each weekend, Martin watches games on TV, consults the U.P.I, sports wire...
...says, "every red-blooded American has an opinion on that game-and wants to put down his bet-the minute the conference championships end." More than a hundred people were waiting at the Church after the Miami-Oakland game for Martin and his colleague, Frank Hall, to set the spread...
...mentioned the campaign that was supposed to have been the evangelical catchword of the year: Key 73 (TIME, Feb. 19). As labored over for six years by Graham's organization and more than 150 other participating groups, Key 73 was intended to be a broad ecumenical effort to spread the Gospel-CALLING OUR CONTINENT TO CHRIST as the slogan put it. But by year's end most people on the continent had scarcely heard...