Over the holiday weekend, Station Casinos’ Sports Book counters were lit up like a Fourth of July sky, and, like Jason Pierre-Paul, everyone was counting their digits when it was all over. While there was action all over the board, UFC 276 was one of most heavily-bet fights in a very long time. Not only that, guest’s eyes have been focused across the pond as Wimbledon enters the final stretch. With all that in mind, let’s quickly look back over the sport’s landscape and take a peek at what’s ahead on the courts, on the diamond, in the octagon and on the STN Sports App and at the Station Casinos Race and Sports Book.
Fight Night
Guests flooded the Station Casinos Sports Books and STN Sports App with wagers on UFC 276. “We had a phenomenal handle on the UFC,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Race and Sports Book Director. “We saw a number of five-figure bets come across on fighters over the course of the day via the STN App and at our counters. It was one of the largest UFC handles that we’ve seen in a long time. It was one of the biggest handles that I can remember on a UFC pay-per-view card.”
The book split many of the high-dollar bets, especially due to Alex Pereira’s upset win over Sean Strickland. “We clearly were rooting for the underdogs in the co-main events, but overall you had a good handle on both sides,” Esposito said.
Boys of Summer
They say everything is bigger in Texas… including winning streaks. The Houston Astros are hotter than the Red Rock sauna these days with recent wins over both the first-place Yankees and a sweep of the NL East-leading Mets. Granted, a few wins came against the Angels (who’ve had a Splash Mountain-esque drop) and the lowly Royals. Still, Houston is at the top of the heap, and no garbage cans are even being harmed. “Baseball is all about the haves and have nots, and you can add the Astros to the haves,” Esposito sad. “They’re just about a must to play on every parlay and straight bet. The Yankees and the Astros are by far right now that the class of the American league and guests aren’t hesitating to bet them regardless to the price.”
It’s more common seeing the Astros and Yankees on a parlay than it is seeing an orange traffic cone on Flamingo Road. Speaking of those damn Yankees, they are now the World Series favorites, having recently overtaken the Dodgers, who had held the top spot all season. “The Yankees are starting to get healthy at the right time. We know they’ll be active at the trade deadline,” Esposito added. “The Dodgers are just dealing with so many injuries right now.” The Dodgers have the third-most wins in baseball. Most teams would love to have their problems.
The trading team at Station Casinos continues to create more and more ways for guests to get in on the action. While favorites like the Yankees, Braves, Mets, etc., continue to be friendly toward bettors, the Book and STN Sports App have now added player-specific props, most notably an Aaron Judge home run prop. Will Judge have 62 or more homers this season? Guests can now make that bet. The Book and STN App have also been adding daily “total bases” prop bets for several of the game’s marquee players. Continuing to beef up the baseball board, it added a “yes” or “no” prop bet tied to whether certain ball-bashers will hit a dinger out of the park (The bet is similar to what the Book did with Jocelyn Alo in the Women’s College World Series.) “With only baseball going on right now we’re just looking for ways to expand our overall wagering menu and put more options out there for the guests to look at and wager on throughout the summer months until football starts,” Esposito said.
NBA Trade Machine
Even in the offseason the NBA packs more drama than a Meryl Streep movie. Last week saw the Minnesota Timberwolves give up an absolute haul to the Utah Jazz for three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert. In other moves, the Celtics picked up Malcolm Brogdon… And let’s see, oh yeah, Kevin Durant asked for a trade. “There’s been a tremendous amount of movement on our future book board,” Esposito said. “When Kyrie Irving opted in, the Nets’ odds moved to a top five or six teams. They then became a much, much longer shot after KD announced that he wanted out.”
After KD’s announcement, odds were quickly adjusted for teams like the Suns, Raptors and Blazers, all of whom are reportedly up for facilitating a trade (And if you think the Jazz got a stash for Gobert, wait to see what Brooklyn gets for Durant.) “You’ve seen us lower the odds on those three teams — the Suns, Raptors and Blazers — just based on rumors, information and speculation at this point,” Esposito added. “We’ll adjust accordingly where he doesn’t go, but Durant will have the bigger impact on the future book market.” Thus far, the majority of bettors have been in a bit of a wait-and-see mode, but Station’s Books have been fielding wagers on the Lakers (who’ve been linked to Irving) and Heat (who’ve reportedly made Utah an offer for Donovan Mitchell.)
“I think the bets are just based on speculation that somebody is going to land there,” Esposito said. “There’s so much information out there that we’re trying to kind of read between the lines, read the tea leaves and get a jump. We know that our guests are more and more educated than ever before.” The NBA futures odds are more unstable than Frontier Airlines on-time schedule.
Net Bets
Like hippies in the ‘70s, the English love them some grass. With Wimbledon in its final stretch, guests haven’t been shy in regard to betting Tennis’ most famous tournament. Wagering has been terrific so far, and guests have been especially partial to STN Sports App’s in-play options. “We know that tennis internationally is one of the most popular betting sports in the world, and by expanding our overall wagering menu with in-play has opened up a whole new avenue to bettors,” Esposito said. The Book almost cashed a big one on Tuesday when tournament-favorite Novak Djokovic was down two sets. The Joker eventually stormed back and got the win on the All England Club’s famous grass courts. Still, the majority of the Wimbledon money was tied to Serena Williams, who was ousted in her initial match. “We’re in pretty good shape no matter how Wimbledon shakes out,” Esposito said.
Weekly Winners
Congrats to this bettor! 8 teamer for $15 cashes for $1,803 on July 5.
PARLAY (8 TEAMS)
[912] DODGERS -240 (ACTION)
[906] BRAVES -145 (ACTION)
[920] ASTROS -235 (ACTION)
[902] REDS +1½+110 (M SCHERZER/N LODOLO)
[928] MARLINS -135 (ACTION)
[906] BRAVES UN 9½-105 (A PALLANTE/I ANDERSON)
[910] D’BACKS UN 9-105 (A WOOD/T GILBERT)
[906] BRAVES UN 9½-105 (A PALLANTE/I ANDERSON)
[910] D’BACKS +155 (ACTION)
Bets to Know
It’s summertime and that means that the NBA Summer League is back. The STN Sports App and Station Casinos have posted odds for all the summer league games. We also have Wimbledon wrapping up where we have Men’s and Women’s tennis odds on all the matches. All odds are posted in the app or available over the counter in any Station Casinos.