For the second week in a row, STN Sports Books took more of a beating than a scrambled egg, as favorites continued to cash for bettors. Granted, two underdogs won outright —the Dolphins over the Falcons and the Jets over the Bengals —but not a single underdog covered the spread.
“Overall, it was a good weekend for the guests,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Sports Book Director. “We didn’t get clobbered. We were a small winner for the weekend, but we needed another game or two, which we never were able to find.”
Favorites went 11-2 against the spread in Week 8. “This is eerily similar to last year when there seemed to be such a difference in the haves and have-nots, and man, there are some bad teams in the league again,” Esposito added. “The Saints, the Titans, the Browns, they’re just automatic bet against.”
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
The public bested the house last week, and the Patriots are catching the attention of many bettors, as that spread has ticked up. New England has looked better and better as the season’s progressed, and the Pats come off a clabbering of the listless Browns.
The Falcons, who travel to New England to take on the Patriots, got shut down on Sunday against the dismal Dolphins. Atlanta, by the way, has proven to be a perennial “under” team this season, as the Falcons have a 1-5-1 over/under record.
“They’re almost an automatic under on the road,” Esposito said. “When they’re away from the dome, they just do not generate any offense. And now you’ve got Drake London banged up and Michael Penix Jr.” For the Falcons to somehow win at Foxborough, that task might be taller than the Nevada-grown U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. Other teams getting early action: Detroit and Chicago.
Big Time Matchups
On Monday night, the Commanders got beaten by the Chiefs, who look scarier than a Halloween costume. But, Esposito likes their chances this weekend against Seattle… that is, assuming Jayden Daniels is under center.
“I’m still not sold on the Seahawks. I know defensively they’ve played really well and they’ve got two good running backs, and Sam Darnold is really good in meaningless games, but when push comes to shove, I’m afraid he’s going to see ghosts again,” Esposito said. “This is primetime on a Sunday night. I could make a serious case for the Commanders.”
Washington comes into the game against the Seahawks as home underdogs. Esposito also likes the 49ers as slight favorites at the Giants and the Steelers at home against the surprisingly great Colts, saying, “It’s back-to-back home games for Pittsburgh. The Ravens play on Thursday, and they’ll probably win, so Pittsburgh will know what the Ravens have done, and they still have to play the Ravens twice.
I like the Steelers at home, getting a field goal. If they were to go north of three, I would love them getting the hook.”
World Series
No matter how it ends up, the Books will be in good shape with the result of the World Series, but not all outcomes are created equally. “We are rooting for the Jays nightly and in the series,” Esposito said. “The longer the series goes, the better for us.”
The World Series is certainly a contest of differing teams: The Dodgers have the bold-faced names (Ohtani, Betts, Freeman), whereas the Blue Jays have a collection of ballplayers. After George Springer went out with an injury and Bo Bichette was replaced, it was hard to know any of the Jays not named Vladimir Guerrero. The lineup saw more construction than the Vegas Strip during F1 preparations.
“I hate to say it, but I looked at the Toronto lineup and I wasn’t familiar with that many guys,” Esposito acknowledged. Still, in guests’ minds, there was only one pre-Game 1 name they eyed for the series MVP: Shohei Ohtani, the odds-on favorite to nab the award. “There’s no real liability on him,” Esposito said.
NCAA Football
In just a matter of weeks, Penn St., Florida, Arkansas and LSU all dumped their coaches, and paid mightily for it in multimillion-dollar buyouts. So, how does, let’s say, Brian Kelly’s departure affect spreads for upcoming LSU games? It doesn’t.
“Their teams are clearly underachievers at that point, and I think the ship has already sailed,” Esposito said of the Power 4 schools whose coaches got canned like a Thanksgiving yam. However, there could be a shift if an active winning head coach were to leave.
Opined Esposito, “If Matt Rhule were to leave Nebraska today and say he was going to Penn State, or Lane Kiffin was going to LSU, it would have an impact on their program, absolutely. I don’t know how much it would affect the line to start, but it would have an impact.”
Bets To Know
MULTIPLE Matches of the Day? That’s right – keep an eye out from the morning till night on the STN Sports App, as some days will offer an additional MOTD after the first has begun.
Weekly Winners
$5 12-teamer hits for $7,673! A huge congrats to this one that came through on Monday night:
-Bills spread
-Eagles spread
-Patriots spread
-Bucs spread
-Colts spread
-Packers spread