Father’s Day has just passed, but the NBA and US Open found out who their daddy was this week. After just five games, the Boston Celtics laid waste to the Dallas Mavericks; Bryson DeChambeau fended off Rory McIlroy to LIV it up on Pinehurst No. 2 Golf Course.
The Florida Panthers, though, couldn’t seal the deal and join the party — at least not yet. Of course, guests were getting in on all the action and making the books pay! 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 STN Sports Books…
NBA Finals
For the 18th time, the NBA Champions hail from Boston. On Monday night, Jayson Tatum and crew dispatched the Mavericks, which proved to be a windfall for the Books. “We did tremendous on really everything involving the Celtics,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Race and Sports Book Director. “The Mavs played so well in the Western Conference Finals, and the infatuation with that backcourt of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving captivated everybody. But when push came to shove, the Celtics were clearly the better team.”
It seemed that every guest was on the underdog Dallas, which is somewhat surprising since Boston was among the favorites all season long — they were never out of the top three in terms of lowest future book odds. Esposito added, “It was probably one of the better all around outcomes that I can remember on an NBA future, just the way it all worked out for us. Plus, every game stayed under, which was huge for us, too.”
It seems that bettors were leery of the Celtics, knowing that they were always the bridesmaid, never the bride. In that series, though, Dallas never seemed to really show up when it mattered. Their inept Finals performance was more mysterious than those monoliths that pop up in the desert.
NBA Futures
Who will the next NBA Champions be? The 2025 odds have been posted, and if they tell you anything, Boston will be celebrating again at this time next year. The Celtics were installed as the clear favorite, followed by Denver, Minnesota and Milwaukee.
“When you look at the draft class, there doesn’t appear to be one player like last year that is going to alter the future book board,” Esposito said. “I would say, though, there’s a number of big name players that could be changing teams.” Paul George, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are all on verge of mimicking J.Lo and Ben Affleck and divorcing their teams.
Lord Stanley’s Cup
A gentleman’s sweep? Not so fast. Perhaps guests saw the Celtics close out a series on their home floor on Monday and figured the Florida Panthers would do the same 24 hours later. Money came in hard and fast on the Panthers and their Game 5 odds raised quickly. About 70% of the bets were on Florida on Tuesday night.
“We were Oilers fans from the game side of it and future side of it, but we were in good shape no matter what really happened,” Esposito said. “In a weird way, even though they went into the game up 3-1 in the series, I think there was more pressure on Florida to win.”
“It’s kind of that domino effect,” Esposito said. “You’re watching Boston just really dominate from start to finish in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and you could kind of see the same thing here with Florida who’s been very, very dominant in the series.” Tuesday night, though, was different story.
US Open
Last week in this very newsletter we told you that Bryson DeChambeau was our lean to the win the US Open. For those who listened, we’ll send you an invoice later. DeChambeau entered the Open with 16-to-1 odds, and he was one of the more popular bets.
“That was not great for us,” Esposito said. “We were huge Rory fans, but the bogey monster got him.” A bunch of match play prop bets also posted losses for the Book, meaning it got battered like a Lucky Penny waffle iron.
“Overall it wasn’t a great outcome for us, but a good one for guests,” Esposito said. “DeChambeau has been a popular bet now for the last couple of majors. They’ve continued to bet him, and they finally cashed.”
Cubs Cash
There’s something going on in Chicago, and it stinks worse than Discovery’s Sin City Tow reality show. The White Sox are already the doormat of baseball, but the Cubs are not much better.
“The Cubs just find ways to lose. They really just can’t hit, but their pitching is actually good. They have one of the best ERA’s in all baseball,” Esposito said. So far in the month of June, Cubs game are consistently going under, cashing at a rate of about 68%. “They cannot hit collectively as a group,” Esposito added.
Bets To Know
There’s action all day (literally) at STN Sports with EUFA Euro 2024 kicking off! Check the app for matchups for all the games, and if you’d like to see a specific bet offering, you can always tweet us @stnsportsapp.
Weekly Winners
$25 bucks to win $848.32 for this STN Sports bettor who bet some action on baseball June 18:
-Rangers/Mets over 8.5 runs (-115)
-Athletics/Royals over 8 runs (-120)
-Dodgers -1.5 vs. Rockies (-125)
-Brewers -1.5 vs. Angels (+100)
-Cubs -1.5 vs. Giants (+175)