It was an NFL bookend for the ages for the STN Sports Books. Not only did the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football, but both underdogs – the Falcons and Bears — won outright on Monday night, too.
“There was so much tied to the Eagles that it made everybody kind of reset. It was a phenomenal Thursday,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Sports Book Director. “And Monday was great with both ‘dogs winning. Keeping that Buffalo game under was great. Getting the Sunday night game to stay under and getting the Buffalo game to stay under the total was the difference in our bottom line.”
The Detroit/Kansas City game looked worse than paid parking for a while, but it ultimately went lower than the total of 52.5 points. Buffalo’s loss even killed off a three-team parlay that would have paid out $73,000.
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…
NFL
There’s little debate as to which teams are bad (looking at you, Titans, Jets, Browns, Bengals, Lamar-less Ravens), but who is good? “There seems to be a lot of parity in pro football so far through the first six weeks, which we didn’t see last year, especially from Weeks 11 through the end of the season,” Esposito said. There’s no doubt that the Seahawks and Colts are huge surprises, as they were discarded in the preseason like those “girls direct to your door” handouts, but do they really have a shot at the whole thing? Probably not.
However, in an NFC landscape of the Lions, Eagles and Packers, is everyone sleeping on the Buccaneers? “If I had to pick an MVP today, it would be Baker Mayfield,” Esposito said. “He’s done it with injuries to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Bucky Irving and now Emeka Egbuk. It doesn’t matter. Baker Mayfield seems to perform.”
The injured Bucs are decent underdogs against Lions on Monday, but Mayfield has shown that he’s doing more with less, and they are 4-2 ATS (then again, so is Detroit.) “As Tampa gets healthier, I think they can be a really, really good team,” Esposito said.
Commander Comeback?
Last week, Esposito said his favorite bet was the Steelers. Winner. The week prior, it was the Vikings. Winner. This week, he’s eying the Commanders, who come off a tough loss to the Bears. The best medicine could be in the form of the Cowboys, whose defense has more holes than Bali Hai Golf Club.
“I just don’t think the Cowboys can do enough to stop them,” Esposito opined. “The Cowboys are just bad defensively that they make every quarterback look great.” There’s a chance that wide receivers Noah Brown and Terry McLaurin return, too, which could cause the spread to increase. (Washington enters a small road favorite.) “I just think that they’re the better team on both sides of the ball, and Dan Quinn knows that team from being the defensive coordinator,” Esposito said. Coincidentally, the Cowboys’ loss to the Panthers on Sunday made the morning for the House, but it also crushed guests, as 83% of the tickets were on Dallas -3.
“There was just so much money on the Cowboys. It just looked to the bettors and the guests as if it were an easy one,” Esposito said. “We had a lot of big bets that came in on Dallas, and so the Panthers winning was really good.” This week, Esposito’s eyes will again be on Dallas, as he expects them to falter.
Aces Victory
We are officially in the midst of a dynasty. The Las Vegas Aces captured their third WNBA title in four years, and the STN Books got more buried than a mobster’s secret. The Aces got off to an extremely sluggish start for the first half of the season, which made their future book numbers soar like Bruno Mars’ alleged gambling debt. Being in Vegas, guests continued to believe in Las Vegas and bet the team at astronomical odds of 20-to-1.
“The WNBA odds drew a tremendous added interest in viewing and wagering,” Esposito said. “At 20-to-1, there was even more value because of the local backing and the price. So we were a loser as far as the Future Book went on the Aces. Unfortunately, not necessarily the best outcome for us, from the business side of it, but from the fan side of it and from our local support, we wanted to congratulate the Aces.”
MLB Playoffs
If the Sports Books have their say, the World Series would be Dodgers v. Blue Jays, as they post a black number for both. Being so close to Southern California, Los Angeles has received the majority of support from guests, but their future book number was low all year, limiting liability. However, in regard to oddsmaker’s feelings about Dave Roberts’ squad, things are more confusing than a slot machine payout chart.
“We rooted against them pretty much in every game, but we do okay to them in the future book. We do really good to Toronto,” Esposito said. Again, considering the proximity to Southern California, a large World Series handle would hinge on the Dodgers. The oddsmaker added, “The Dodgers against anybody would create a really good handle.”
Bets To Know
Don’t look now, but we’re less than a week out from NBA season tipoff! As if there isn’t enough going on, hoops fans can get back into the action, as lines for season openers are posted in the app!
Weekly Winners
Monday night drama! $5 to win $3,288 on an 8-teamer hit after both the Bears and Falcons covered their respective Monday night games. Congrats to this STN Sports bettor:
-Jets +7
-Patriots -3.5
-Raiders -5
-Steelers -6
-Panthers +3
-Chiefs -1.5
-Falcons +4.5
-Bears +4.5