This is the time of year where you ride your horse to a title. Not only are the NHL and NBA’s best duking it more than Christian Laettner and Mike Krzyzewski, “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports,” aka The Kentucky Derby, is just days away. Oh, there’s also a UFC fight and a Canelo Alvarez match this weekend. If it’s possible to be drunk on sports, we’ll take a double! With all that in mind, let’s quickly look back at the past week in sports and peek at what’s ahead on the STN Sports App and at the Station Casinos Race and Sports Books…
NHL Playoffs
The Vegas Golden Knights were big favorites against Winnipeg in the first round of the NHL playoffs, and you saw why. As the No. 1 seed in the West, VGK has home-ice advantage in its second-round matchup against the Oilers. Yet, Edmonton is favored in the series. In other words, oddsmakers suspect that Vegas will lose a home game, which would be a worse look than Aaron Rodgers in a Jets uniform. “Vegas hasn’t had a ton of success against the Oilers, said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos’ Race and Sports Book Director. Over the last few seasons, Edmonton is 4-0 in Vegas, and they’ve won six of the last eight games. “Vegas needs to start fast. I really think Game 1 sets the stage for the series,” Esposito continued to opine. “I think it’s almost a must-win for Vegas just because of Edmonton’s dominance against them the last two years, and especially their dominance in T-Mobile.” In the first round, the Book — from a business perspective — was cheering against the Knights nightly. Things could very well change this round, and the Book might find itself cheering alongside the locals, particularly when the games are in Canada. The way Esposito sees it: if Vegas wins the series, the games will likely go under the totals; if Edmonton wins the series, he’d lean toward games going higher than a raised debt ceiling.
Is it possible to be upset and happy at the same time? To put it lightly, the Station Casinos Sports Books were thrilled about the Florida Panthers’ massive upset win over the heavily-favored Boston Bruins in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Boston set a regular season record for points and ran away with President’s Trophy; Florida barely got into the playoffs. Somehow, Boston fell harder than Will Levis in the first round of the NFL draft. “On a nightly basis, about 65% to 70% of the tickets were on Boston,” said Esposito, noting the Bruins were heavily bet on the money line and the puck line in Game 7. Boston also saw the majority of in-play betting. The oddsmaker added, “Going into the overtime period of that game, the in-play number was Boston -150, and there was a significant amount of action on them.” Those tickets, like poolside guests who don’t use SPF 30, were burned. Likewise, the Book was pleased with Seattle’s upset over Colorado, although bettors did show the Kraken enough love to keep things interesting. With these two upsets, the future’s book believes it will be an all-Canada final, as Toronto and Edmonton — both perennial playoff disappointments — now have the lowest odds to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.
NBA Playoffs
The Denver Nuggets are giving the Book a rocky mountain high without a dispensary visit. Despite Nikola Jokic’s squad being the top seed, bettors have taken a shine to the Suns. “We were big Denver fans in Game 2,” Esposito said. “The Suns are the sexy, vogue pick and everyone expected the Suns to tie the series.” The Suns’ route to the NBA Finals got more difficult with Chris Paul’s injury, which will affect the spread by a few points and shape the perception of Phoenix. Denver might be one of the most under-the-radar No. 1 seeds in recent memory. Considering NBA bettors often use the zig-zag theory — betting the home teams, therefore rooting interests are constantly going back and forth — it seems highly, highly likely that guests will again back the Suns and look for money like the Oakland A’s ownership group. In a few other series, the Book saw some Game 2 money come in on the Knicks, likely tied to the Jimmy Butler injury, and some Game 1 Warriors money trickled in. The Lakers, though, continue to create more liability than any other team, given that they had championship odds of 100-to-1 earlier in the season.
Draft Fallout
Chalk one up for the guests! The NFL season is months from starting, but the Detroit Lions have already dealt Station Casinos Race and Sports Books a loss. The NFL Draft took place last week, and the Books put up a slew of prop bets, including one tied to the number of running backs taken in the first round. Conventional wisdom said one running back would go, Texas’ Bijan Robinson, but no others were expected. After Station set the over/under line at 1.5 running backs taken in the first round, the public was on the over, as money was dumped quicker than a Taco Bell meal. When the Lions selected Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs with the No. 12 pick, money swung faster than a folding chair in Anthony Edwards’ hands. “I wish we would’ve fared a little bit better, but it wasn’t a bad outcome,” Esposito said. “The draft was just a very small loser, and it really was based on that particular prop. Had Gibbs not gone on the first round it would’ve probably been one of our best draft prop overall outcomes ever.”
If you don’t think the draft has consequences you’re guiltier than a Henry Ruggs plea. After stellar drafts from Philadelphia, Houston and Seattle, their future book odds were lowered. By contrast, Arizona, Washington and Tennessee saw their odds raised, as all are riddled with more question marks than a Monopoly chance card. In the wake of the draft, STN also put up rookie of the year props and an Aaron Rodgers touchdown bet. Are you ready for some football!
Bets To Know
In the spirit of the derby, Station Books and STN will feature a $10,000 twin quinella promotion on Friday, and a $20,000 twin quinella promotion on Saturday (ie. bettors must pick the top two finishers of two predetermined races.) “For a very small investment you can do really, really well,” Esposito said. Pony up!
Weekly Winners
$50 parlay to a big $15,000 win! Check out this 8-teamer from May 1.
-LAKERS +165
-PANTHERS +130
-KRAKEN +1.5 -180
-METS +102
-CUBS -1.5 +120
-ASTROS -1.5EV
-PADRES -1.5 -115
-DODGER -1.5 +120