He will take over for Grossman after the Feb. 5 Super Bowl

Thursday, December 15, 2005
By MATT YOUMANS
Copyright © Las Review-Journal

There are no sure things in sports betting, but it is a certainty that John Kelly is about to become the dominant radio voice of sports betting in Las Vegas.

On Feb. 6, the day after the Super Bowl, Kelly will begin hosting a one-hour show, sponsored by Leroy's sports books, in the 2 p.m. time slot on KENO-AM (1460).

The Leroy's show will replace the popular "You Can Bet On It" program hosted by Larry Grossman, who is retiring Feb. 3 after 16 years.

Kelly is most familiar to listeners as the longtime host of "The Stardust Line" and the Stardust Invitational handicapping tournament on KDWN-AM (720). He said he will continue in those roles.

"Leroy's was shrewd to get that spot," Kelly said. "Larry has cultivated a nice audience through the years. It's hard to criticize what he's done."

Jimmy Vaccaro, public relations director for Leroy's, said he wants to use the new show to help market Leroy's sports books and its contests. In the past year, Vaccaro has established contests in college basketball and college football, as well as a $50,000 "Money Talks" handicapping tournament.

Leroy's is hosting two contests in the next month -- one this week involving college bowl games with a $5 entry fee and a $5,000 prize pool, and in early January a college basketball contest labeled "Beat Boston" debuts with professional bettor Alan Boston.

Vaccaro has a talent for talking, and said he needs more than his one-hour show at 8 p.m. Fridays on KDWN.

"I know we've done some very good things in the past year with the contests, but I also know we have a lot more that we can do," Vaccaro said.

"I can't just say it on the Friday night show. I need somebody to say it five days a week. I need somebody to beat the drum daily, and there's nobody better than John to do it."

Vaccaro said he hopes to announce the Leroy's overnight lines every day on the 2 p.m. show, which also will be broadcast in the Reno area on KPTT-AM (630).

Kelly, planning a different format than Grossman's show, said he will have a larger variety in guests, shorter commercial breaks and the talk will eliminate poker and focus on sports and occasionally horse racing.

Kelly also said he wants to avoid talking down to his audience, a freqent criticism of the current show on which Grossman, among other things, allows professional bettor Steve Fezzik to regularly rip public "squares" for playing NFL favorites.

A large portion of the Las Vegas audience is more educated than that, Kelly said.

"The squares in this town are sharper, for the most part, than what you find in New York, Chicago or L.A. from a gambling standpoint," he said.