Matt Jacob
Contributing Editor, Sports Betting
Contact: Email
The local freelance writer has penned Vegas Seven's “Going for Broke” column since the publication debuted. Jacob has been a professional handicapper for five years, and prior to that he worked as an editor at Las Vegas Life and a sportswriter and sports copy editor at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Recent Articles
Going For Broke
My best NBA playoff betting advice? Listen to our guest handicapper!
May 17th, 2012
Clearly, the only thing more worthless than my betting advice is Bryce Harper’s anger-management assistance. Which is why I’m turning things over to someone who actually knows what the hell he’s doing. Herewith are a few key NBA playoff betting strategies from longtime Las Vegas resident and Covers.com handicapper Ted Sevransky.
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Snapshot
Cash Cab
May 17th, 2012
It’s included with the informational packet given to all Las Vegas immigrants (you know, the one that tells you that turn signals are optional and you can’t get your citizenship card until you get shitfaced at the Double Down): Relentless, gale-force winds are a rite of spring. Therefore, don’t wear a hat unless you’re willing to lose it, don’t wear a short skirt unless you don’t value your modesty and don’t pull a thick wad of bills out of your pocket unless it’s tightly secured.
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Arianny Celeste
Vegas’ own UFC octagon girl on how she keeps cool during summer, posing for Playboy and what she looks for in a man
May 10th, 2012
The reasons why 26-year-old Arianny Celeste was our obvious cover choice are endless: She looks fantastic in a bikini; she’s a born-and-bred Las Vegan (she went to Eldorado High School); she’s a familiar face of the UFC (as an octagon girl); she’s appeared on the covers of FHM, Maxim and Playboy; and, um … have you seen her in a bikini? But there’s more to Arianny Celeste than meets the eye.
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NFL Week 1 best bets? In mid-May? It’s never too early to talk football
May 10th, 2012
Since it’s logistically impractical to handicap baseball on a week-to-week basis—and since I can’t hit a basketball bet to save my life—I figured why not peek into the NFL crystal ball and offer seven best bets for Week 1.
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Peering into the crystal basketball for a look at the NBA’s second season
April 26th, 2012
I’m not exactly sure what good-luck charm David Stern keeps in his back pocket (a horseshoe, a rabbit’s foot, one of Marv Albert’s hairpieces), but whatever it is, it’s working. The NBA commissioner won a game of chicken with the players association, saving the 2011-12 campaign at the 11th hour, then watched those same players deliver one of the most compelling regular seasons in recent memory.
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Green Cocoon
April 19th, 2012
When it came time for MaryKaye Cashman to uproot Nevada’s largest Caterpillar dealership from its outdated North Las Vegas digs to a new facility in Henderson, she was determined to go green. “It makes sense to me to provide an environment that is healthy for employees and respects the human spirit,” she said in 2009, shortly after swinging open the doors to Cashman Equipment’s sprawling headquarters on St. Rose Parkway.
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Back in action with predictions on the always-unpredictable NBA
April 12th, 2012
With the lockout delaying tipoff until Christmas Day and David Stern’s greedy-and-grueling schedule of 65 games in four months, the road to riches was seemingly smooth: Back veteran squads early, younger squads late and, in the middle, patiently wait for opportunities to fade graybeards such as the Celtics and Spurs when they’re playing their third game in three nights.
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Mike Tyson
The former heavyweight champ on his new life, his old life and his ‘raw and naked’ one-man show
April 5th, 2012
Time was that a one-on-one interview with Mike Tyson was as comforting as a one-on-one encounter with a lion in its den. You didn’t know exactly when things would end badly, just that they ultimately would. On this day, though, the once self-proclaimed “baddest man on the planet” is as tame as a house cat as he holds court on the 28th floor of the MGM Grand.
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Trust me this time (no, seriously): Ohio State is a slam dunk to reach final
March 29th, 2012
With one last opportunity to make something out of this March Madness—and with solid line value in one of the Final Four matchups—it’s time to live up to this column’s name: It’s time to go for broke!
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Wish You Were Here
For this duffer, a round at Shadow Creek fulfilled a dream. And that was before he started playing.
March 29th, 2012
I first heard about this oasis in the desert not long after moving here some 17 years ago, back when Shadow Creek was even more exclusive than it is now. And I remember thinking, Wow, what I wouldn’t give to just see that place! Never in a million years did I think I’d ever play it. Yet here I am.
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