Chuck Edel’s studies have led him to become one of the best sports bettors around

LAS VEGAS — Of all the angles and edges he developed in Chicago as a burgeoning sports bettor in the 1980s, one presented itself to Chuck Edel, involving three buddies, that was money.

When that trio concurred on a wager, he went into action.

“I just had to take the opposite of what everybody else was playing,” Edel said. “It worked better then, because there’s so much information out there now. But if they matched up, I’d go the other way.”

Something like actor Richard Dreyfuss’s horse-playing Jay Trotter, in “Let It Ride,” asking track patrons whom they like in a race. He’d scratch off that thoroughbred. Left with one, he bets it. It wins.

Edel eased into betting, with a bookie, while he tended bar at the Chicago Hilton and Towers. Those pals provided profit whenever they achieved consensus on a position.

“Golden,” Edel said. “Even if two went a certain way, I’d bet the other way.”

He progressed, set goals, eyeballed Vegas, made the move. Today, Edel is among an elite group of 16 punters who compete, for $25,000, in the inaugural Circa Friday Football Invitational.

Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) senior editor and host Matt Youmans selected Edel, whose 9-1 initial two weeks gave him a month-long first-place cushion. He’s now a half-game off the lead.

Youmans concocted the competition as a throw-back to the old Stardust Invitational, a winner-take-all $10,000 challenge, and Circa owner Derek Stevens furnished the $25,000 stakes.

“I figured [Edel] would be one of the four or five favorites,” Youmans said. “He uses the right resources and talks to the right people, and he’s got instincts for picking winners.”

DOING, NOT DREAMING

Edel, 61, attended Maine East High for two years, finishing high school at Libertyville High when his family moved to Vernon Hills. His dad was a chemist. One of his brothers went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Books of another sort, however, attracted Edel after unrewarding stints at Lincoln College and College of Lake County. Point spreads became his destiny.

Edel planned every step carefully. He landed in Vegas in 1992, tending bar at Morton’s and the MGM Grand Garden Arena, managing beverage services at the old Imperial Palace as he polished his betting tactics.

He dabbled in radio, partnering with Ken Thomson for one show. He met Youmans, who covered sports betting for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I had a lot to learn still,” Edel said. “I learned about the back end of the business. I had a good feel for the games but, obviously, there’s more to it. That was a good education.”

In ’97, he started solely relying on sports wagering for income. Wife Rebecca understands his livelihood that they conducted their Florida nuptials during MLB’s All-Star break.

A year ago, he made a splash by going 22-1 over a series of weeks on VSiN’s early-morning “Follow the Money” show, securing a regular Friday-morning guest spot.

And the soft-spoken Edel has done it all with zero showboating.

“Chuck is not an attention-seeker or carnival barker,” Youmans said. “He isn’t trying to sell you something. He’s a solid guy who figured out, through the years, how to make sports betting a viable career, and that is not easy.

“Most guys dream about that. Not many can really do it.”

THE EASY ONE

Edel awaits the imminent release of the Blue Ribbon college basketball yearbook, the game’s bible. He recommends researching player transfers, excavating for sleepers, scanning schedules.

“So that maybe, early in the season,” he said, “you have a little edge.”

He scours local papers, on the web, for insights. He has a math-guru sidekick who helps establish power ratings, to build a foundation.

“James Madison is plus-3.5 against VCU, say, which it should be, but Madison’s point guard has a bad ankle?” Edel said of a scenario requiring instinct. “Lots of stuff goes into it. We do totals and pace of the games.”

When wide-open football boss Sonny Dykes left SMU for TCU, replacing Gary Patterson, Edel knew more points would be the windfall. Horned Frogs games are 5-2 to Over.

Same at Middle Tennessee, which went 4-2 to Over out of the gate under new offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart (ex-Samford OC), and Louisiana Tech, 6-1 to Over under new high-octane coach Sonny Cumbie.

“Tell someone you bet on sports for a living, it’s usually, ‘Oh, what a life!’ But a lot of hard work goes into it,” Edel said. “You roll with the ups and downs. You can’t be nonchalant, or you won’t do too well.”

The Edels and their two daughters live in exclusive MacDonald Ranch in the southern foothills. In his den, four large flat screens surround a mammoth one. He has four phone apps, myriad options at his fingertips.

Sometimes, though, it is easy.

In 1995, he worked out in the same Gold’s Gym that Jorge Luis Gonzalez visited. The 6-7 Cuban heavyweight boxer was 23-0 and prepping for a WBO world heavyweight-title bout against Riddick Bowe.

However, Edel saw a lazy slug more keen on fraternizing with babes.

Edel boldly wagered half his bankroll on Bowe, who toyed with Gonzalez, knocking him out in the sixth round at the MGM Grand. That triggered the Cuban splitting the final 16 fights of his career.

“I worked out 10 times harder than him,” Edel said, “and I never sweat that bet.”