“Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” — Claude Monet.
It’s not even the NFL regular season yet but the silver and black is leaving the Station Casinos Race and Sports Books black and blue. “The Raiders was our biggest decision of the day on Sunday, bigger than any baseball game,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Race and Sports Book Director. “We want to see the Raiders do well, but we’re probably going to be rooting against them from the point spread side of it all season.”
Over in baseball, Dodger Blue has the Book seeing red. Meanwhile, in both the NFL and MLB, guests were seeing green. Like they say at the blackjack table, color it up! With a colorful state of mind, let’s quickly look back over the sport’s landscape and take a peek at what’s ahead on the field, on the diamond, on the court, on the STN Sports App and at the Station Casinos Race and Sports Books.
The Return of Football
They say defense wins championships, but that’s not the case in the preseason. Like a chef tenderizing a steak, scoring has been the name of the game. Including the Hall of Fame game, the over has cleared in 14 of the 17 games so far. “This illegal contact rule has already come into play much more frequently than it did last year,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Race and Sports Book Director. “And favorites are doing really well so far.”
There was a time when even a 1980 Ford Pinto had a better handle than preseason football, but that has changed. Granted, preseason wagering very much pales in comparison to that of regular season games by a big margin… upwards of 80%.
“Comparatively speaking, preseason games see a handle of about 20% or 30% of what it would get if it was a Week 1 or 2 game,” Esposito said. “But you can just tell there’s an added excitement with football, and there’s such a huge correlation with being able to watch a game and wager on a game. So with almost all the games being on TV, it helps kick up the handle on preseason football.”
The Sports Book is adding bets to its menu like Station Casinos is adding land to its portfolio. With just a few weeks before the regular season kicks off, the Book and STN Sports App added several new wagering options, including prop bets tied to a team’s elimination and exactly how they will finish within their division. Like we say at Station, Gimme More. (Incidentally, those are two words you won’t hear a resident headliner sing at Park MGM or Planet Hollywood.)
Preseason For Station Fans
There’s still time! The Last Man Standing competitions in both the NFL and college football are open for business. Station Casinos Race and Sports Books are currently accepting signups for the annual competition. Guests can sign up in person at any Station Casinos Sports Book, and the cost is $25 per entry. Each contestant that purchases four entries will receive a fifth free. While still active in the competition, guests must turn in weekly picks in person. Active participants are required to select one game against the spread for each entry. For reference, the Last Man Standing competition in the college field will win a guaranteed minimum of $100,000, and the NFL’s Last Man Standing will take home a guaranteed minimum of $150,000.
And get that app ready for football season! New STN Sports App users can receive up to a $500 bonus based on their deposit amount and the amount wagered over the account’s first 30 days. In other words, free money!
Knights Knocked Down
The Vegas Golden Knights are getting their mettle tested already. On Thursday, the team announced that goalie Robin Lehner will miss the entire season due to a hip injury (How’s that Fleury trade looking in hindsight?) While the VGK was already littered with question marks, this just added to the misery. Naturally, the Station Sports Books reacted and adjusted the Knights’ Stanley Cup odds. The team had 12-to-1 odds, but VGK’s odds are now nearing 20-to-1. The Knights are more chaotic than the Las Vegas airport after a “loud noise” is heard. Still, Vegas is considered a top-third-of-the-league team, but the team is not even close to being a favorite to win the Pacific Division next year, let alone The Cup. The Knights can certainly go out and get a goalie, but who’s even available right now?
“They’re going have to hope that some of these young kids kind of take it to the next level and guys like Stone and Karlsson and Marchessault and Eichel really have career years,” Esposito said, “because they play in a division where a lot of the younger teams made some good, aggressive moves in the off season.”
Feeling Aces
There is a legitimate chance that the Las Vegas Aces could bring a championship parade to The Strip. With the WNBA playoffs set to begin this week, Becky Hammon’s squad is the favorite to win the title. “We haven’t seen much movement in their first round series, but they are prohibitive favorites against Phoenix,” Esposito said. Arizona could lose the series faster than its Colorado River allotment. The Chicago Sky are also expected to be there at the end, as they have the second lowest odds to win the chip (behind Vegas, of course.) “It does look like Vegas and Chicago are on a collision course,” Esposito said.
Playoff Chase
The news was startling: Padres All Star Fernando Tatis Jr was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for PEDs, which rules him out for the rest of this season. Although Tatis has yet to play this 2022 season due to a wrist injury, he was very, very close to returning to the big show. Immediately after the news, San Diego’s World Series odds jumped up significantly. “That’s a big loss,” Esposito said. “The Padres have been struggling since the trade deadline and were banking on him coming back so they could have Tatis and Juan Soto for the playoff push.” San Diego hasn’t been this disappointed since the Blackfish/Sea World documentary went viral.
Meanwhile, up the 5 Freeway, the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to be a thorn in the side of Sports Books everywhere. “Guests are just hammering the Dodgers on the side and on the run line every single night,” Espositosaid. Seeing that they’re in the Pacific Time Zone, the Dodgers are the last game of the evening on many nights. More often than not, L.A. is the last leg of a parlay — and if your ticket hinges on the Dodgers winning, your chances are good. “We need to fade the Dodgers on a nightly basis,” Esposito said. Up until Sunday’s loss, L.A. had gone 12 straight games winning on the run line. In fact, during that stretch, they would have covered 10 of those games on a 2.5 run line. The Dodgers are more stacked than the pancake platter at Lucky Penny.
Bets To Know
The football menu continues to grow! Check our our football section for added “Exact Finish in Division” props and “Stage of Elimination” props for your favorite football team.
Also, hockey and basketball divisions are up to bet for the coming season this fall!
Weekly Winners
$256 win… not bad for a $3 bet! Why not? Congrats to this bettor who hit an 8-teamer across baseball on Aug. 15:
-Guardians -215
-Phillies -174
-Orioles OV 9 -120
-Twins -192
-Mariners OV 6.5 -110
-Marlins +120
-Cubs OV 8.5 EV
-Dodgers -166