Even your local restaurant menu doesn’t get this many people zeroing in on the favorites. The past few weeks in sports haven’t generally been kind to the STN Sports Books, as outright underdog winners are hard to find.
“It has been very chalky in the NBA, NHL, and baseball of late,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Race and Sports Book Director. “Everything is continuing to dump into these West Coast teams, and it just hasn’t been favorable for us. No sour grapes are singing the blues. It’s just been a nice stretch overall for the guests of late. Those things happen, and it swings that other day, too.”
With all that in mind, let’s quickly review the past week in sports and peek at what’s ahead on the STN Sports App and the STN Sports Books…
VGK Bad Beat
The STN Sports Book was on the end of a brutal bad beat courtesy of the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. It’s no secret that guests love to play the VGK on the puck line and love to bet overs. During Game 1 against the Wild on Sunday, the Knights were leading 3-2 with time dwindling. While that wouldn’t have been ideal for the STN Books from the business side, a one-goal win with the game going under isn’t catastrophic. But, with .1 seconds remaining on Sunday, Brett Howden ripped a shot into an empty net.
Initially, it wasn’t counted as a goal, but upon review, the puck cleared what line with just one-tenth of a second left in the game, giving the Knights a 4-2 win. With that Easter miracle, the Knights covered the puck line, and the game went over 5.5 goals. Even those wrestlers at Allegiant Stadium didn’t get a beatdown like that on Sunday.
“Everything always is kind of dumping into those late games, and it’s even magnified or amplified when it comes to the Knights, because everybody has a piece of the Knights,” Esposito said. “That goal was a dramatic turn of events.”
Baseball Parity
Over the past several seasons, baseball teams have very quickly separated themselves, making it painfully easy to see who’s a bet on and who’s a bet against. While that’s certainly happening to an extent, the separation isn’t as obvious right now, particularly with so many starting pitchers injured on the bench. The Dodgers and Padres have established themselves as teams to bet on, while the Rockies and White Sox are undoubtedly teams with more issues than a Von’s magazine rack.
“In the first week of the season, we were almost already hitting the panic button, but it leveled off a little bit over the second week, and I think that definitely helped somewhat,” Esposito said. “To me, it’s a little bit of surprise that Baltimore’s really got off to a slow start, but their pitching is really, really suspect. I think looking at Atlanta, they’ve got up to a slow start, which has helped us as well.” The Los Angeles Angels, meanwhile, were predicted to be one of the worst teams in the league. Although they’ve struggled a bit as of late, they’ve held their own. Still, guests aren’t buying into them, which has helped the Books.
“There’s some hesitation about them. Will Trout stay healthy?” Esposito said. “The Cubs have been good for the bettors, but there’s a lot of parity right now. So, outside of the Padres and the Dodgers and Giants, we’ve been lucky that there is a little bit more parity in the league than we’ve seen.” Still, one STN guest had more incredible picks than a Rocks Lounge guitarist last week. That guest bet $3,000 on a 9-team parlay of baseball favorites. When it hit, the guest cashed for $90,000.
NBA Playoffs
The NBA Playoffs are in full swing, and the eyes are on the West, it seems, as Sports Books are fearful of the Lakers, Warriors and Clippers, all of whom they have liability on. Guests’ wallets were hurting when the Timberwolves beat the Lakers in Game 1 of that series, and oddsmakers are hoping for more of that, as it would knock out Vegas’ defecto home team, the Lakers.
“That first game was huge for us with Minnesota winning outright,” Esposito said. “We’re in fairly good shape with Oklahoma City, Memphis, Boston and Cleveland. We still do decent to those teams, but unfortunately, that’s not the case with some of the teams out West.”
Bets To Know
This time of year is perfect to take a look at our Match of the Day. 10% bonus on the moneyline for one marquee game each day. With both the NHL and NBA playoffs in full force, it’s perfect timing to get a little more action on a game.
Weekly Winners
-Nottingham Forest (Premier League)
-Real Betis (La Liga)
-Clippers moneyline
-Clippers/Nuggets under 218.5
-Pistons moneyline
-Knicks/Pistons under 221
-Winnipeg Jets puckline
-Stars moneyline