After unders started the season 13-4, last Sunday saw overs going 10-3. “Our guests like to play overs. People like scoring, and scoring was definitely up this week,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Sports Book Director. “We thought it would be after the change in the kickoff rule. That wasn’t the case Week 1, which maybe isn’t surprising because a lot of guys aren’t playing in the preseason. But Week 2, it clearly was the case. You’re never out of it if you have an over.”
On Sunday, one guest placed $2 bet on 10 NFL overs, which all hit. That guest pocketed $1,500 for a good return on investment. Only Sphere is getting that kind of ROI with its Wizard of Oz ticket sales. On Monday night, though, guests gave some money back, as both games went under. In the Chargers/Raiders game alone, 72% of tickets were on the over!
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…
Week 3 NFL Talk
The Cowboys entered their game against the Giants on Sunday as six-point favorites, and the masses got behind Dallas, as 89% of the tickets were on Dak Prescott’s squad, including several five-figure wagers. The Giants, however, ended up covering the line, losing 40-37 in overtime.
“That was a really good outcome for us, but had the Giants won outright, it would’ve been nirvana,” Esposito said. For the most part, favorites won over the weekend, cashing many moneyline parlay tickets. One bright spot for oddsmakers was Seattle beating Pittsburgh as 4-point underdogs. The Colts’ victory, coupled with the Panthers covering against Arizona, was also good for the house. The underdog Falcons besting the Vikings on Sunday night was a day saver, too.
Still, just to prove that favorites have been more dominant than a madame at The Green Door, since Week 13 of last year, teams favored by four points or more have won over 90% of their games straight up, going 64-7.
QB Sorrows
Going into Week 3 of the NFL season, bettors are looking past Pittsburgh’s loss, it seems, as all the early money is on the Steelers as they prepare to take on the Patriots, who are coming off a win against Miami, which could be the worst team in the AFC. The Lions also get early-in-the-week love before taking on the Ravens on Monday Night Football. The latter could be a product of injuries to Baltimore’s offensive and defensive lines. And speaking of injuries, there are a lot of them to marquee players, most notably Joe Burrow, who could miss the rest of the season.
Signal callers are suddenly more unavailable than a Cox customer service representative, and a few will be wearing headsets like Tom Brady in the Raiders’ owners’ booth. Other injured QBs include Brock Purdy, Jayden Daniels, and J.J. McCarthy, but the drop-off between those guys and their backups isn’t as severe as what Cincinnati faces, which now turns to Jake Browning to keep the season afloat. Burrow being on the field is about a seven-point difference when it comes to setting lines.
“I think that that’s the key more than anything else, is who’s the backup? How good is the team? What’s the public’s perception of the team? Without Joe Burrow, it changes the dynamic,” Esposito said. Carson Wentz will replace McCarthy, but bettors may flock to the Vikings this week. Not only do they play at home against the Bengals following a loss on Sunday Night Football, but their next two games are overseas, so they’re going to want to give their fans something to cheer for at home.
“There’ll be some betting patterns that favor the Vikings in that game,” Esposito said. The Raiders are also in a tough spot. Las Vegas traveled to the East Coast in Week 1, then came home for Week 2, and now plays back on the East Coast on a short week in the 10 a.m. time slot. They enter the game as underdogs, and that’s with Daniels’ status being up in the air.
Fight Night
In the weeks leading to the Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez megafight at Allegiant Stadium, the Nebraska native was getting all the love. In the five-to-six hours leading to the fight, the opposite was true, as Canelo got all the action. In the end, the STN Books actually needed the underdog, a relative rarity when it comes to fights.
Crawford, who had been making promises like Joe Lombardo in a reelection campaign, was good on his word, beating Canelo via the scorecards. Both fighters attracted several five-figure bets.
“It was really the best case outcome for us having Crawford win and having the fight go the distance,” Esposito said. “We saw a lot of action late leading up to the fight on Canelo, and a lot of action on both fighters in picking the round, but the thing that we really had to avoid was the draw.” STN Sports Books aired the way-past-my-bedtime fight on its screens, and the excitement was palpable for those who stayed up late enough to watch.
Esposito added, “The handle was tremendous. We had standing-room-only crowds. It was Super Bowl-esque.” If they run this thing back, maybe look for a coffee sponsorship.
Bets To Know
10% odds boost. Every. Day. Our Match of the Day continues to be a favorite for STN Sports bettors, listing one match every day with a 10% odds boost on either side of the wager. From NFL to MLB to WNBA and everything in between.
Weekly Winners
One STN guest is beaming after betting $100 on a 10-team college football parlay that hit, netting the guest a mind-blowing $72,323.
-Cal moneyline
-Bowling Green moneyline
-Tennessee +4
-Tulane -1.5
-Arkansas +21.5
-Utah State +4.5
-Stanford +14
-West Virginia +7.5
-Southern Miss +3.5
-Delaware +8