The deep summer can be tough on sports bettors, but rest assured, football is just around the corner. So, in the immortal words of Ozzy Osbourne: No more tears (RIP). In fact, STN Sports Books’ hugely popular NFL and NCAA Football Last Man Standing contests begin signups next week! Happy days are here again.
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…
Fight Night
It was fight night last weekend. On Saturday night, UFC 318 featured Dustin Poirier’s final fight, and the public backed him heavily.
“There was a little bit of early money against him, but there was a huge push on Poirier leading up to the fight,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Sports Book Director. “We were big, big fans of rooting against him. I mean, we clearly Max Holloway fans by the time they got into the Octagon.” Holloway, who entered the fight as a small favorite, ended up getting the better of Poirier in a unanimous decision. While that skirmish occurred in the Big Easy, Manny Pacquiao was trading blows with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios at MGM Grand Garden Arena in our backyard.
“It really ended up being a fight night for us because there was a huge amount of money on Pacquiao, as well, being the sentimental favorite and fighting in the same venue that he won his first championship in,” Esposito said. “Everybody coming to the counter was betting on Manny.” These fights saw more hits than a Beyonce concert.
“We needed Barrios and Holloway big time. It would’ve been the difference in a huge winning day or a huge losing day,” Esposito noted. “Uncharacteristically, we were rooting for both favorites very heavily in those two matches.”
The Open Championship
Scottie Scheffler cruised to the Open Championship on Sunday, winning by four strokes and thus proving that no one can hang with him when he’s playing at his best.
While Scheffler always attracts bets — after all, he is the best golfer on the planet — guests often take chances on other players, hoping for a larger payday. Unfortunately for them, you see Scheffler lose about as often as you see an unrestricted Las Vegas freeway. “Scheffler was actually a really good outcome for us,” Esposito said.
“Of the top five golfers going into Sunday, we were the best shape with him, so getting a guy with low odds and not a bomber to win was really good for us.”
Baseball Pre-Deadline
Break up the… White Sox? Coming out of the All-Star Break, the team from Chicago’s Southside was hotter than Nye County’s Gothic Fire, having rattled off four straight and averaging almost nine runs a game in doing so. The feat is all the more stunning considering the White Sox’s win column was basically as empty as a Downtown Las Vegas dance floor.
“If you have a day that’s dominated by favorites, getting one of those ‘dogs in there is monumental to change the day,” Esposito said, saying one single underdog winner like the White Sox or Rockies could constitute a six-figure swing. “If it’s a day that you have other ‘dogs that are winning, it’s not as impactful, but it definitely helps, especially with the heavy parlay business that we do. Anytime the Mets, Yankees, Cubs or Dodgers go down, it’s good for us.” Of course, there could, and likely will, be a scene change in baseball by next week. Two words: Trade Deadline.
“Overall, baseball over the last couple of months has been much better for us than the start of the season, when the guests were killing us, so we’re just hoping for some of this parity to continue,” Esposito said. “But, I can’t stress enough that the trade deadline is a few days away, and anything can happen at this point. There’s easily going to be some big-name players moved, and that will clearly alter the landscape of what we’re going to see over the last two months of the season.”
Bets To Know
The Las Vegas Aces came into the All-Star Break with a .500 record, and guests have somewhat cooled on betting them.
Whether you think this trend will continue, or if they’ll heat up once again, all the games are available to bet in the STN Sports App.
Weekly Winners
Baseball business is BOOMIN’! This$2 parlay hit for $681.98 Tuesday night. Congrats!
-Mets ML -170
-Astros ML -115
-Mariners ML -120
-Braves/Giants u9.5 -120
-Nats/Reds under 9 -120
-Pirates/Tigers o8 -110
-Guardians -1.5 +150
-Blue Jays/Yankees u9 -110 (PUSH)
-Phillies -1.5 +100
-Marlins/Padres u8 -105