Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain

When Dorothy and the posse arrived at Emerald City, those were the famous words the Wizard cried out as Toto drew back the drapes. There's a similar situation here in the world of wagering. The Wizard is a company by the name of Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

LVSC sets the betting lines for an estimated 90% or more of the Vegas action. That's all sports, not just our corner of the world. LVSC operates from a small building in an industrial park that's just a few hundred yards from runway 25L at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. The company has been around since 1982.

Look at their website, and surprise, there's a photo of the dozen guys who make the wagering world go 'round. No mysterious back office operation, no underground bunker filled with banks of servers. A group of guys, smiling, posing in their LVSC golf shirts. No Robert DeNiro, no Joe Pesci.

LVSC operates as a subsidiary of Cantor Gaming , acquired in November of last year.

Cantor Gaming is an affilate of Cantor Fitzgerald, a global financial services company.

Cantor Fitzgerald is one of a limited number of primary dealers who trade U.S. Government Securities directly with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

So, when you plunk down your cash on Slippery Rock v. Lehigh, you have, in a detached way, done a bit of business with one of the global financial movers and shakers.

There's no place like...