Like Tom Petty said, “The waiting is the hardest part.” While we don’t know Petty’s inspiration for the song, we’d like to think it was about football… and the wait is over! Football, albeit of the preseason variety, begins this week with the Hall of Fame Game.
The NFL return comes after two big fights, a slew of baseball trades, and even a new wildfire (just not one operated by Red Rock Resorts). 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…
NFL News
Like a smoky evening sky in Vegas, the Hall of Fame Game between the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns is going to lack stars. The Jets already announced that they aren’t playing starters, and the Browns are likely to follow suit. Although the game’s luster will be downgraded like a United States credit rating, STN Sports Books are still taking action on the contest.
“There are some wise guys that bet the preseason stuff early because the numbers are off, but the general public won’t bet until the day of the game,” said Jason Simbal, Station Casinos’ Race and Sports Book Director. Although the Browns enter the game as a small underdog, the public is taking them. “Our guests will bet the game and they’ll put it in their parlays, and it’ll just give people something to watch,” Simbal said. “In terms of handle, this will for sure outdo some of the baseball matchups on Thursday.”
Sports Books industry-wide were quick to suspend almost all Cincinnati Bengals-related action the moment Joe Burrow suffered an injury last week. The injury looked bad initially, but the Bengals said their all-world quarterback suffered a calf strain. With the exception of Cincinnati’s future’s odds, Station Casinos took down all other Bengals-related bets, including their week 1 game, divisional odds, conference odds and win total. During a small window of time, Bengals bets were more interfered with than a presidential election. The bets are now back up, and only minimal changes were made to their odds. Like Cincinnati, Miami also got an injury scare when Jalen Ramsey, arguably the best cornerback in the league, went down with a knee injury. Whereas Burrow isn’t expected to miss significant time (and maybe none at all) Ramsey will likely be out until December. The Dolphins future book odds creeped up a bit with the injury news.
Last Man Standing
The Last Man Standing competitions in both the NFL and college football has begun. 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.
Baseball Moving and Shaking
Like a back-to-school shopper, a few baseball teams will have a new look. As part of the Mets fire sale, the Astros reunited with reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, and the Rangers got Max Scherzer. Naturally, both teams saw their World Series odds drop.
“Guests aren’t really betting either team more than usual yet, but generally what happens is a team starts to get hot and bettors may like the price on them,” Simbal said. Last year, for instance, the Philadelphia Phillies had a losing record at the trade deadline and owned World Series odds of 40-to-1. Although Bryce Harper’s squad didn’t win the World Series, they made it to the October Classic. So, who is that outlier this year? Who’s that team that’ll come out of nowhere like a Vegas flash flood?
“We keep waiting for something to happen with the Padres and it’s just not there,” Simbal said. However, the oddsmaker thinks the Blue Jays or Twins might be worth a look, as both have somewhat high odds and have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. “You never know, but it’s gonna be tough,” he said. “It seems like it’s going to be the Astros against either the Braves or the Dodgers in the World Series.”
Fight It Out
Although the STN Sports Books saw early money come in on Terence Crawford before his fight against Errol Spence Jr., the house still needed the man known as “Bud” to prevail inside T-Mobile Arena. And, it got what it needed, as Crawford shined brighter than the new Durango Resort marquee. “We did well on that fight,” Simbal said.
“We needed Crawford because the general public was on Spence. Although Spence wasn’t a huge underdog, the general public generally likes to bet underdogs in boxing.” One guest, however, made a $40,000 bet on Crawford and took home $30,000 with Bud’s ninth-round TKO. That person was more amped than a Metallica stage. On the flip side, another guest made a $25,000 bet on Spence. “They kind of canceled each other out in a way,” Simbal said. “We lost on the number of rounds that the fight would go — we needed the over —but Crawford’s win was a lot bigger than the total rounds.”
While Crawford putting on a boxing clinic in Vegas, UFC 291 was taking place more than 400 miles away in Salt Lake City. That, too, proved to be profitable. “We needed Justin Gaethje in the main event and got that, and we needed [Alex] Pereira in the next biggest fight, which we got a nice decision there,” Simbal said. “It was a nice Saturday for us. Even baseball went our way with the Royals and A’s winning that day.” Winning in boxing, UFC and MLB in the same day. That’s a better trifecta than the Jonas Brothers. Don’t @ me!
Bets To Know
The Pro Football menu continues to grow as we approach the season! Preseason games will all be posted leading up to their kickoff, as well as tons of player and team props for the regular season. Check the app for the latest.
Weekly Winners
Congrats to this bettor who hit TWO 6-leg baseball parlays on Tuesday. The first was $900 to win $15,115.36. The second, below was $2,400 to win $22,881.65!
-BRAVES -245
-PADRES -173
-DODGERS +315
-BREWERS +160
-RED SOX +1.5 -210
-RANGERS +200