posted May 27, 2008 at 13:53 EST in Other Articles

BetUS online sportsbook customers can bet on a major "sporting event" taking place May 29-30 in our nation's capital. It may not be sports betting per say. But online betting on the National Spelling Bee can be as exhilarating as betting on any major sporting event.

Ready for this?

BetUS 2008 National Spelling Bee Odds

May 29-30 -- Washington, D.C.

Winner to Wear Glasses

No -140

Yes - Even money

Length of Winning Word

Over 8.5 Letters -150

Under 8.5 Letters +110

Gender of Winner

Male -140

Female - Even money

I remember, to some degree anyway, my big shot at glory. I was 12 years old, and on my way to take part in the North Jersey Spelling Bee finals, sponsored by the Herald-News (all spelling bees have a newspaper sponsor). The winner got an expense-paid trip to Washington to compete in the National Spelling Bee, which at the time was televised on PBS (or whatever public television was called at the time). As we're driving up to the venue, a car stops short in front of us and my mother rams right into the guy. Boom. So she went off to the hospital for observation. I didn't want to hear about hospitals, so I got a ride from the men in blue. I'm fairly certain I was the only contestant who got a police escort. I must have looked like a juvenile delinquent walking in there.

Actually, I had never won a spelling bee in my life; but I was able to place second or third in enough competitions along the way that I could qualify. I didn't win this one either. I cannot remember the word I missed out on, but I managed to place sixth in the competition.

I don't know; maybe I should have asked for a definition, or a word origin. Yeah, yeah - THAT would have made the difference. Ah, so close, but yet so far.

That’s F-A-R, isn’t it?

I spelled a lot better when I was a kid than I do now. Sometimes my name comes out C-h-a-l-r-e-s. You know, stuff like that.

I don't think about my spelling career much, but there are reminders from time to time, like the corny but inspirational movie "Akeelah and the Bee" that came out last year. Richard Gere was in another film called "Bee Season" that was a little too cosmic for me.

Anyway, I'm the designated spelling guy here, so I'm doing this spelling bee betting prop.

And I come armed with stats.

"Winner to Wear Glasses?” If you don’t mind, we’re not going there. No politically incorrect "nerd-profiling" coming from this sector. Plus, I'm not calling everybody's mommy and daddy to get the stats.

However, we'll take a stab at the other two.

Length of Winning Word

Over 8.5 Letters -150

Under 8.5 Letters +110

Okay - throughout the history of the spelling bee, winning words have been as short as four letters ("luge," which was ironically in the Olympic year of 1984) or as long as 13 letters, which has happened seven times (in 2004 the winning word was "autochthonous"). In 78 years, the winning word has been nine letters or longer 50 times (64.1%) and eight letters or less on 28 occasions. I've got records through 2005, and it was under eight only twice in a twelve-year period. The average length of word that has won the National Spelling Bee is 9.23 letters. Over the last 50 years, it is 9.5 letters. And in the last twenty years, it has risen to ten letters (kids have gotten smarter, right?). On balance, there is good value, even laying 3/2 (reflecting 60%).

If the track record and recent trends are any indication, there is no value with the "under" here, that's for sure.

JAY'S PLAY: OVER 8.5 LETTERS (-150)

Gender of Winner

Male -140

Female - Even money

In this year's lineup, there are 53% females. At one time, the girls really dominated things. From 1929 to 1940, they won eleven out of twelve years. That was certainly a great depression for the male species. Of the 81 winners through '05 (there have been a few ties), 42 have been male and 39 have been female. However, 33 of the last 51 winners (or 64.7%) have been boys. Children of Indian heritage (as in New Delhi, etc.) have really risen to the forefront, consistently pacing in the finals in the last 10-15 years. And they are predominantly male.

Going with the -140 calls for a 58.3% possibility of a male winner, and the recent pattern tells us that there is a greater chance of that happening. We'll lay the price.

JAY'S PLAY: MALE (-140)

Finally, there is an eight-year-old in the competition. Everyone will have an eye on Sriram Hathwar, a second-grader, who is the youngest-ever contestant in the National Spelling Bee. The oldest competitors are six years his senior. There is actually another eight-year-old, and 13 ten-year-olds. In a field of 288 spellers (the biggest total ever), I would make young Hathwar about 125/1 to win the title.

Imagine that - I've just made odds on an eight-year-old. The apocalypse must be close at hand.

I'll bet the kid could spell "autochthonous." Hey, I'm LOOKING at it and I still can't spell it.

You said you wanted some props? Well, high-tail it over to BetUS.com, where you can bet on just about anything; in addition to all the major sports, there's a healthy dose of propositions on things like reality shows, political elections and of course, the National Spelling Bee. It's almost time for football too, and BetUS.com is your headquarters for everything related to the gridiron game!

(Charles Jay of http://www.ebookies.com is perfectly willing to spell it all out for you - as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)