Homers in this odyssey: Chad ‘Rex’ Beyers is a lucky guy

The Westgate SuperBook risk manager was able to turn his hobby into his job.

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Chad “Rex” Beyers’ career has landed him in Hawaii, England, Gibraltar and Costa Rica.

Chad “Rex” Beyers’ career has landed him in Hawaii, England, Gibraltar and Costa Rica.

Rob Miech

LAS VEGAS — The magnificent odyssey of Westgate SuperBook risk manager Chad “Rex” Beyers continued through a recent 72-hour window in typical unscripted, roller-coaster fashion, just how he likes it.

He savored seeing Billy Troutman — his best friend from grade school in Indiana, where they could spot the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs on the other side of the Ohio River — in the national spotlight.

Troutman is tight with thoroughbred trainer Brad Cox, whose Essential Quality won the Belmont Stakes last Saturday. NBC cameras captured Troutman bear-hugging Cox.

Without encouragement from Beyers, Troutman might not have witnessed, in person, Cox’s first triumph in a Triple Crown race.

The hectic sports weekend kept Beyers and four or five other Westgate risk experts busy, gauging and pricing lines, adjusting numbers.

Beyers spotted an anomaly in a Mets-Padres game that would prove profitable. Golf would ignite controversy. Late Sunday, he watched “an incredible heater” in the Excalibur dice pits.

On Monday morning, he believed he found value with the Royals, at +143 (risk $100 to win $143), against the Angels in Anaheim.

“When you can have a job that isn’t actually a job, but a hobby that you get paid for,” Beyers said, “that’s what we all should strive for.”

NO-NO BLUES

Beyers, 44, extrapolated baseball figures early last Saturday morning and was half-stunned to find Mets ace Jacob deGrom at +120. The Mets were in San Diego. He made the wager.

DeGrom owned a gaudy 0.71 ERA. The Padres started Joe Musgrove, architect of the franchise’s first no-hitter April 9 in Texas.

Savvy baseball bettors have long faded hurlers in their next start after tossing a no-no because of the additional pitches required for such a complete-game masterpiece and the emotional toll of making history.

But Beyers noted an extension of those doldrums for the six pitchers who have thrown no-hitters this season. Musgrove won only two of nine starts after his gem. That sextet went a combined 7-11 in its next 29 post-no-no starts.

“Guys who have thrown no-hitters,” he said, “have turned into shells of themselves.”

Beyers influenced the SuperBook, opening the Mets at -130 (bet $130 to win $100). “A good sweat for my pocket,” he said of his personal investment. The Mets won 4-0.

He is bullish on the Mets, Rays, Astros and Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling, bearish on the Cubs and White Sox. He doesn’t expect the historical rate at which inherited runners are scoring against Twins relievers to continue.

On May 31, Beyers publicized a position, but his Twitter followers had to be quick. Four minutes before the first pitch, he questioned the Yankees being favored over Tampa Bay. The Rays won 3-1.

“I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to bet this.’ Had no reason not to share it. I try to help. But there’s enough bad stuff that goes along . . . like today.”

BAD PRECEDENT

Before the near-football-field-length SuperBook screens last Saturday night, Beyers laments his shop’s exposure on the Nets, who blast the Bucks — and will do so again in Game 2.

The Twitter “bad stuff” to which he refers is golf. A few hours earlier, Jon Rahm withdrew from the Memorial, which he was leading by six strokes after three rounds, because of a positive coronavirus test.

Nonetheless, DraftKings, William Hill and others paid patrons who had bet on Rahm, despite his withdrawal, to win the tourney — a curious but not uncommon marketing ploy.

“A bad precedent,” Beyers said. “You can’t pay Rahm and pay whoever else wins, too.”

Ironic, many industry veterans say, because William Hill, in particular, is notorious for axing winners. I personally require more than two hands — and I retain all 10 digits — to count acquaintances that Hill has barred after mere $300 wins.

His opinions received some social-media blowback — what doesn’t? Like the SuperBook, Circa Sports didn’t reward Rahm backers. Circa director Matt Metcalf wrote that consistency, not subjectivity, is vital to a shop’s reputation.

“It’s clearly a loser,” Beyers said. “It’s right in [our] house rules. We’re more concerned about you betting here because you’re going to get a fair price, that you get a fair limit.”

THE SWEAT

Beyers was 13 when he first attended Churchill Downs, made his first bet on those ponies two years later. He was a senior at Clarksville High, playing for father-coach Rick Beyers, when sweat first fell from him in torrents in 1995.

He had so idolized hoopster Rex Chapman that “Rex” became his nickname, how most know him today. He had two free throws from a technical foul in a sectional playoff game at Jeffersonville High.

Ninety percent of a crowd of 5,000 cheered for the home team. Boos rained down upon him. Some even howled, “Dad-eee’s boy! Dad-eee’s boy!” as he stood at the line, nobody else in the lane.

“Made one, missed one,” Beyers said. “I was rattled, not going to lie. I was 18.”

Monday, an off day, he researched Euro 2020, the grand soccer tournament that started Friday. He planned to “sweat the Royals” that night. The Angels would win 8-3.

“I sweat everything, but I like it,” said the man whose career has landed him in Hawaii, England, Gibraltar and Costa Rica. “That’s why I love the business. The odyssey has taken me where it has, and I have no complaints.”

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