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 diamond, on the STN Sports App and at the Station Casinos Race and Sports Book.
The Pros Week 3
The Raiders have as many regular season wins this season as the pre-Tatum O’Neal Bad New Bears. Still, the bettors backed them big last Sunday against the Titans and they were not rewarded. The Raiders are 0-3, but they’ve actually only lost by a combined 13 points. Last year, the Raiders seemed to prevail in all those close games. “They’re not winning these cardiac games that they did last year where they come from behind and pull out the miracle,” Esposito said. However, the bettors are not fading them just yet, as Derek Carr’s bunch still has a small chance at the playoffs.
“It’s an uphill battle,” Esposito said, “but there’s so much parity throughout the league that I think they maybe have a small chance to make it. This week against the Broncos is a must win.” If the Raiders can’t get a satisfying win, the Vegas donut shops won’t be the only one’s producing 0’s.
In a direct about face from last year, NFL evenings are made for unders, it seems. Thus far, the under is 8-2 in the primetime games, including the Thursday night game. “Last year it seemed like we could not keep a primetime game under, and this year is the exact opposite. These are dead unders,” Esposito said.
“For whatever reason right now, in most of these isolated games the wager is on the over. For them to keep going under is uncharacteristic. That’s been big for us. Keeping it under on a primetime isolated game was always paramount to really helping our bottom line.” In general, the under has been a good bet, as it’s cashing at a 64% clip. Like Garth, find some friends in low places!
Already Time To Tank?
The cream rises to the top in the NFL. While several teams are very set at the quarterback position, an army of teams are far more unsettled. Read: Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Carolina, just to name a few. Having said that, the 2023 NFL Draft is said to be loaded with quarterback talent. We’re not saying any of these teams will purposely tank, but Jacksonville, Miami, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Ukraine have discovered that tanks can work. So, due to the drop off in quarterback play from the top tier to the not tier, how do we bet it? “I think there’s more value on the underdogs and unders,” Esposito said. “The quarterback is such an important part of the team and they’re such a big part of the spread. There’s just such erratic quarterback play right now from week to week, and I think that’s why you are seeing some lower totals right now.”
Early Storylines Being Told
We’re a few days from Week 4, but a few lines have already seen more changes than a department store dressing room. With the Lions a little beat up, guests have been siding with the Seahawks, dropping that number a full point. And, likely due to injuries suffered by Justin Herbert and offensive tackle Rashawn Slater, guests are betting on the Houston Texans to cover against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Philadelphia Eagles have been so good in first half of its games that the squad is coasting to wins… and not scoring in the second half. Through three weeks, the Eagles have scored 14 points in the second half. That’s it. And those points all came in Week 1. The Eagles scoring in the second half is more rare than a Frontier Airlines flight leaving on time. “They’ve looked so good in back-to-back weeks that they really have become vanilla in the second half and have scored zero points because they’ve been up by so much,” Esposito said. “They haven’t had to do anything in the second half. I’m not sure if it’s game script or what.”
The Almost-Pros
One of most important names in college football this weekend is Ian… Hurricane Ian. A tip for betting college football this weekend: Check the weather report and conditions, particularly in outdoor games being played on Florida, Georgia and the Eastern Seaboard. Hurricane Ian is set to ravage the area, bringing rain and wind, which could amount to sloppy, slower fields. “This is something we’ve dealt with in the past, and some of the totals might not be put up right away,” Esposito said. “There might be huge adjustments on these totals. We do become somewhat weathermen as we’re looking at this, so that we can get a better gauge on it.” Per house rules, if the location of a game is changed, guest bets would still be active; if the date of a game changes, active bets would be refunded. As far as this week’s upcoming slate of games is concerned, the biggest spread and total moves so far have been weather-related.
Largely thanks to so many upsets in football, the Last Man Standing fields are rapidly whittling down. Just three weeks into the contests, only 13% of the tickets are still alive in the college football contest, and only 9% are alive in the pro football contest.
Hot Teams For Fall Ball
Throughout the course of the long baseball season, you’ve heard about the Yankees, Dodgers and Padres, but the latter part of the season has belonged to Cleveland. No team is hotter than the Guardians, and that’s a good thing going into the playoffs. The Guardians have defied the odds, becoming the first team to win a division with at least 16 rookies making their major league debuts. Also, their averages roster age at opening day was 26.2 years, which is younger than the average AAA team. They are youngest team in MLB this season, and by a pretty big margin. In the postseason, veterans are nice to have, but youth matters. The youngest team in the postseason has consistently reached the World Series over the past decade. Even Lou Brown would give up his managerial gig at Tire World to manager these guys… Ya know, as long as Pedro Cerrano didn’t chase the curve ball.
Bets To Know
We remain dedicated to giving STN Sports bettors the largest menu possible when it comes to football. Between futures, game props, player props, team props, and, “ICYMI,” PARLAYABLE PROPS (!!!), the menu is every-expanding, so make sure to check the app daily to see what you like.
Weekly Winners
$20 will get you $957.95 if you put down this 6-teamer! This STN Sports bettor nailed pro football over the weekend. Take a look at these picks:
– Colts +5.5 -110
– Falcons -105
– Ravens -3 -101
– Bengals -6 -110
– Rams -3.5 -110
– Cowboys EV