Las Vegas impresario Derek Stevens bounced back from a rough start in the 2017 NCAA Tournament to go 5-2 in the early Friday session (with one pass). His five winners were Michigan, Arkansas, Oregon, Jacksonville State, and Rhode Island.
Stevens would go 2-3-1 in the Friday night session, with two passes. His 32-game challenge finished with a mark of 10-19-3.
Stevens, the visionary behind “The D” downtown and a driving force behind the rejuvenation of Fremont Street, risked $352,000 to win $320,000 as the first 32 tournament point spreads were posted at South Point.
Eleven dimes to win 10 dimes…game by game…for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday action.
Here's the final breakdown…
Tuesday
Lost New Orleans -1.5 vs. Mt. St. Mary’s
Lost Wake Forest plus 1 vs. Kansas State
0-2 for the session, -$22,000
Wednesday
Lost North Carolina Central -2 vs. Cal Davis
Lost Providence plus 1 vs. USC
0-2 for the session, -$22,000. 0-4 for the tournament, -$44,000
Thursday’s Early Session (in tip-off order)
Lost Notre Dame -7.5 vs. Princeton
WON NC Wilmington plus 8 vs. Virginia
Pushed Winthrop plus 12 vs. Butler
Lost Gonzaga -22 vs. South Dakota State
Lost West Virginia -14 vs. Bucknell
Lost Tennessee State plus 12 vs. Florida
Won Middle Tennessee plus 3 vs. Minnesota
Lost Vanderbilt pick-em vs. Northwestern
2-5-1 for the session, -$35,000. 2-9-1 for the tournament, -$79,000
Thursday’s Late Session (in tip-off order)
Lost Maryland -1 vs. Xavier
Passed Mount St. Mary’s vs. Villanova because the matchup was unknown Sunday
Lost VCU plus 3.5 vs. St. Mary’s
Pushed Vermont plus 10 vs. Purdue
Won Florida Gulf Coast plus 14 vs. Florida State
Lost Virginia Tech plus 6 vs. Wisconsin
Lost North Dakota plus 17 vs. Arizona
Lost Nevada plus 6.5 vs. Iowa State
1-5-1 for the session, with one pass, -$45,000. 3-14-2 for the tournament, -$124,000
Friday’s Early Session (in tip-off order)
Won Michigan pick-em vs. Oklahoma State
Lost New Mexico State plus 13 vs. Baylor
Won Arkansas -1 vs. Seton Hall
Won Oregon -15 vs. Iona
Won Jacksonville State plus 22 vs. Louisville
Passing USC vs. SMU because the matchup was unknown Sunday
Lost Texas Southern plus 25 vs. North Carolina
Won Rhode Island plus 2 vs. Creighton
5-2 for the session, with one pass, plus $28,000. 8-16-2 for the tournament, -$96,000
Friday’s Late Session (in tip-off order)
Passing Cal Davis vs. Kansas because the matchup was unknown Sunday
Lost Wichita State -6.5 vs. Dayton
Lost Troy plus 19.5 vs. Duke
Passing Kansas State vs. Cincinnati because the matchup was unknown Sunday
Won Michigan State plus 1.5 vs. Miami
Northern Kentucky 19 vs. Kentucky
Loss Marquette plus 2.5 vs. South Carolina
UCLA -17 vs. Kent State
2-3-1 for the session, with two passes, -$13,000. 10-19-3 for the tournament -$109,000
