The “dog” days of the NFL are here, and that’s good news for the Station Casinos Sports Book. Although favorites and underdogs went 8-8 in the NFL’s opening week, a mountain of money swung in the oddsmaker’s direction on Monday night thanks to the Seattle Seahawks win. It’s fair to assume a lot of severely hungover people were lining up for Starbucks in the Emerald City Tuesday morning.
“There was a lot of puppy love in the NFL over the weekend,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Sports Book Director. “The dogs were barking, and every dog has its day.” With all that in mind, let’s quickly look back over the sport’s landscape and dish out some insight on what’s ahead on the field, on the court, on the STN Sports App and at the Station Casinos Race and Sports Books.
Pro Football Week 1
The NFL season kicked off on Thursday with the defending champion Los Angeles Rams taking on the Buffalo Bills. Although the game was hyped as a possible Super Bowl preview, this was a less stimulating affair than the one Prince Charles had in the 80s (too soon?) The Bills had little trouble with the Rams. From the Sports Book standpoint, it cashed because the game stayed under 52.5 points.
“We had a lot of over money on that game,” Esposito said. “We were in a fairly good position regardless of the outcome, as long as we kept it under.” One particular Red Rock bettor was in a world of pain after laying $60,000 on the over. Speaking of overs, the Book again was lucky when the Raiders/Chargers game stayed under, too. The highest ticket count and the most money wagered on any total on Sunday was the Raiders/Chargers over.
“Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes”
Like the boaters did in Jaws 4, the bettors had their revenge. Guests loaded up on the Chiefs and Ravens, both of whom covered easily. Regarding the Ravens, nearly 90% of the moneyline bets for that game were on Baltimore, and 87% of the spread bets were on Lamar Jackson’s squad. The Chiefs were getting so much action that the line moved up 2.5 points from what was initially posted. “Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes, regardless of Tyreke Hill being there or not,” Esposito said. “There was a little bit less hype on Kansas City in the offseason, but that offense didn’t miss a beat. Maybe we underestimated how good Kansas City really is.”
In the NFC, there’s a real question as to whether the Green Bay shine is fading, especially given the bettor’s behavior or not taking the prohibitive favorite Packers. Esposito noted, “There was a tremendous amount of dog love on the Vikings against the Packers and the betters cashed on that.” Remember when Aaron Rodgers dressed up as the main character in Con-Air when he reported for training camp? Need we remind you that the Con-Air plane crashed and burned… just like the Packers offense.
Detroit Flips The Script
The week ahead in the NFL is already as intriguing as a failed Wynn nightclub. In fact, one of the NFL’s longest streaks is liking coming to an end on Sunday. The Detroit Lions are actually favored in a game. Repeat: the Detroit Lions are actually favored in a game! Unless something drastic happens, this will be the first time since 2020 that they’ve been favored in a regular season contest. They’ve played 24 consecutive games as an underdog! The Lions have been to the school of hard knocks and back!
A Sea of “C’s”
With Week 1 in the rearview mirror, guests are looking ahead to Week 2, and, for better or for worse, they’ve zeroed in on the C’s (Chiefs, Chargers, Cincinnati, Cowboys.) Thus far, Kansas City is seeing all the Book and STN love in its AFC West battle on Thursday against the Los Angeles Chargers. The game opened with K.C. favored by 3.5, but it’s since moved ticked up. Esposito said the Book has also seen a “big push” on Cincinnati as a large road favorite against the Dak-less Cowboys.
Cali Love
In the NIL world, guests were feeling the California love. “For the second straight week we did not do well on the Southern California game,” Esposito said. USC figures to be a big annoyance to the Book this season — a bigger annoyance than Cris Collinsworth, even! The week in college saw some huge upsets, with Appalachian State taking down Texas A&M, Marshall handing a loss to Notre Dame, Washington State toppling Wisconsin and, to a degree, Baylor falling to BYU, although the Cougars were slight favorites (the public sided with Baylor.) On the day, multiple $20,000 and $30,000 bets were placed.
“There seems to be just a couple of teams that are really good,” Espositosaid, citing Alabama and Georgia. The top oddsmaker thinks Ohio State, Michigan, Clemson and those darned Trojans have the chance to all make noise, too. “USC is a team that is going to continue to get backing from the bettors after some really impressive performances,” he added.
WNBA Finals
The Las Vegas Aces are holding all the cards in the WNBA. Becky Hammon’s team is looking very good, and guests are still taking notice. Guests continue to dump money on the Aces, who have been not surprisingly the single most-bet WNBA team all year. In fact, they might be the most-best WNBA team ever. “We’re seeing a record handle. They’ve been good all year and there’s been a lot of hype about them,” Esposito said. “In Game 1, it were the perfect outcome for us with Aces winning but not covering.” Game 2, though, was different, as the Aces won AND covered. Aja and the women will have three chances to close this thing out.
Fight Fallout
The last-minute change to the UFC 279 fight card had a financial effect at the Station Sports Books and on the STN App. Just one day before Nate Diaz was set to fight Khamzat Chimaev in the octagon, executives were forced to scrap the battle when Chimaev missed his weight. With little notice, Diaz found himself fighting Tony Ferguson, and Chimaev was now fighting Kevin Holland.
“Our handle was definitely down. Our guests didn’t have an opportunity to bet those fights. You only really had a day basically,” Esposito said. “The initial fight, Chimaev and Diaz, had been up for so long, and we saw a lot of action on Diaz because of the price and the history he has.”
Bets To Know
It’s all about Pro Football. If you missed out on Week 1, check the STN Sports App. Besides picking winners and totals, the app has offerings on 1st Score of Game Method (6 Way), Players To Score First TDs, Additional Player Props, Updated Season-Long Futures, Special Pointspreads, and so much more.
Weekly Winners
It all came down to Monday night and a Denver upset for this STN Sports bettor! They had $20 on a 7-teamer, worth $5,520.55 if Seattle covered… and they did.
– Ravens -7
– Texans ML
– Giants ML
– Chiefs -6.5
– Chargers -165
– Steelers +6.5
– Seahawks +7