Bettors Choose Crimson In Ivies

In a little more than a week, over 100 million Americans will stop whatever they’re doing and gorge themselves for three hours straight while the Packers and Steelers duke it out for the title of Super Bowl Champion.

But it’s not just showtime for football fanatics and digestive systems across the country. Bettors go crazy on Super Bowl Sunday too, last year plopping down nearly $100 million at Nevada sports books. And that’s just legal bets; by some estimates, illicit wagering around the country could have pushed the total over $1 billion.

Undoubtedly, a few Harvard students will be watching that game Sunday with a little more than pride on the line.  But for the other bettors out there, the Super Bowl isn’t the only opportunity to catch some gambling action.

For starters, only a few T-stops away lies Suffolk Downs, Boston’s horse racing track. I went there not too long ago (purely for research, of course) and discovered a unique slice of Americana.

Built in 1935, Suffolk Downs has played host to horse racing royalty (Seabiscuit) and rock ‘n’ roll royalty (the Beatles) alike.

But the track is far removed from those glory days. Perhaps the only things that remain the same are the patrons, many of whom appear to be original to the track, and the building itself, which still houses a barber shop.

While racing season takes a few months off for winter, gambling is still open six days a week thanks to simulcast betting where bettors can wager on races at different tracks around the country.

And the best part of it all? Horseracing utilizes pari-mutuel betting, a system which distributes winnings in the same way as the lottery, meaning that the betting age is only 18.

But betting on the Super Bowl or the ponies isn’t the only way to make a little extra cash.

If all goes as planned, the Harvard basketball team could help as well.

The winner of the Ivy League earns an NCAA Championship Tournament berth, and the Crimson has a better shot this year than ever before. Undefeated in league play so far, Harvard is 8-0 at home and has won six in a row. More importantly, the Crimson doesn’t have to knock off a powerhouse like it tried to do last year.

After Penn and Princeton unequivocally dominated Ivy League basketball for half a century, Cornell stepped up in 2008 as the best team in the Ancient Eight, eventually capturing the league crown three years in a row. Harvard seemed to pose a threat last year, led by sensation Jeremy Lin ’10. But the murmurs were silenced when the Big Red dismantled the Crimson, 86-50 on Jan. 30, 2010.

Later in the year, of course, Cornell proved it was for real, leading an improbable run in the Big Dance after knocking off Temple and the University of Wisconsin.

Only a John Wall-led Kentucky could stop the upstart Big Red.

But after losing four of its starters, Cornell will probably end up back in the middle of the pack.

So despite losing perhaps the best player in school history, Harvard now has a legitimate chance to win its first Ivy League title.

Bettors are convinced too. According to BetUs.com, Harvard’s win parade now makes the Crimson the odds-on favorite to win the league title.

For all eight teams in the conference, the quest for the league crown begins in earnest this weekend, with eight league games in a two-day span. With Harvard hosting the Lions and the Big Red on back-to-back nights, two wins would put the Crimson in a good position to take the title.

And, of course, that would give Harvard students a chance to bet on the home team and share in the estimated $2.5 billion gambled every year during March Madness.

*  The Crimson sports board does not promote gambling in any form.

—Staff writer Robert S. Samuels can be reached at robertsamuels@college.harvard.edu.