Following a Turkey Day and Black Friday in which it was all gravy for the house, having swept the board with four outright underdog winners in the NFL, STN Sports Books again got the better of guests on Sunday morning when the Panthers pulled off an upset of the Rams as a double-digit underdog.
The afternoon games, though, were more beneficial for the guests, as all three favorites won and covered easily. Still, oddsmakers were in the driver’s seat following wins by the Packers, Cowboys, Bengals, and Bears on Thursday and Friday.
“I’m sure it’s happened before, but I can’t recall a time in my career when not only did the ‘dogs cover on Thanksgiving, but all three won outright. The totals going over weren’t good, but the sides were tremendous,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Sports Book Director. “The Black Friday game is only a few years old, but that was huge, too. with the Bears.” Had someone placed a four-team money line parlay on the three Thanksgiving and Black Friday ‘dogs — and some guests did — it paid 86-to-1.
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 Roundup
With just five weeks left in the NFL’s regular season, it’s becoming apparent who’s good, who’s average, and who’s failing harder than Jason Aldean’s Las Vegas Strip bar. Despite the Bills’ shellacking of the increasingly dismal Steelers on Sunday, guests aren’t as enamored with Buffalo as they once were.
“There’s no such thing as a sleeper team anymore. There seems to be a little bit of value on the Bengals,” Esposito said. Naturally, Cincinnati plays at Buffalo this week, and the Bills are a favorite of nearly a touchdown. That is just one of a half-dozen games this week with huge playoff implications. On Thursday, the red-hot Cowboys, who sit at 6-5-1, face the fading 7-5 Lions in what all but amounts to a loser-goes-home game.
“For the Lions to lose and go to 7-6, I think it would be catastrophic at this point,” Esposito said. For several years, Detroit has been shinier than a revamped Green Valley Ranch room, but the sheen has worn off. Dan Campbell’s squad is a field-goal favorite in the game, and the number is “hovering”, as guests aren’t pushing the spread any particular direction.
The same, however, can’t be said for the Ravens, whose number has gone up as they prepare to take on the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers, whose bleeding nose looks like it got hit by a shovel.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ performances have offered more shocking visuals than a Sphere Phish show, and that’s not a good thing. What happened to KC? Over the summer, you would have been laughed out of the room by even joking that Kansas City would miss the playoffs, but here we are.
At 6-6 and slumping like a thermometer’s mercury, KC is third in the AFC West and may have to run the table to even get into the playoffs as a wildcard. Although they take on the Texans, who might have the best defense in the NFL, Esposito likes the Chiefs to score the win and cover on Sunday Night Football.
“I just think they’re not going 6-7. I just don’t see it,” he said. “I think the Texans, although they are so good defensively, they’ve got a lot of issues on the offensive side. I think Kansas City’s defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, will just have it dialed up where it might be an under game, but I think the Chiefs get the cheese.”
College Coaching Shakeups
What a “Miss.” Over the weekend, coach Lane Kiffin packed his bags and followed the yellow [and purple] brick road to LSU, leaving his former school, Ole Miss, in the dust. This happened, of course, as the Rebels are likely to secure a birth in the College Football Playoff and maybe even a home game. But Kiffin’s absence is already being felt in the Sports Book.
Prior to Kiffin’s exit, Ole Miss had odds of 15-to-1 to win the National Championship. After he left, the odds skyrocketed to 40-1. “It’s not only that he’s gone, but he is definitely going to pillage other members of the coaching staff, and who knows from a player perspective what ultimately happens and what the committee does with that team,” Esposito said. From a spread standpoint, his absence on the sideline will also be felt, as Kiffin is worth “at least” three points.
“The team seems to have a circle-the-wagon mentality now and rallying in the grove, and maybe they win the first game out of pure emotion,” Esposito said, “but this is just a huge, huge distraction.” When the iron is hot, no one strikes more than Kiffin… except maybe Pete Hegseth.
Conference Championships
When UNLV played Boise State earlier this season, the Rebels got blasted like a Cyber Monday email. STN bettors lost big that day. As we get ready for the rematch in the Mountain West Championship, guests aren’t falling into the trap again, at least not yet.
“The early push has clearly been on Boise so far, and it’s seen a full point and a half jump since the opening line,” Esposito said, noting that Boise Quarterback Maddux Madsen will return from injury and play. While they’re laying the points with Boise, sharps are taking the sub-touchdown points with Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game against No.1 Ohio State.
“I thought this game could go either way, but it has dropped,” said Esposito. “There’s a real chance that we’re going to need the No.1 team in the country.”
Last Man Standing
We have a winner in the college football Last Man Standing Competition. The contestant bested 3,317 other entries to capture $100,000 after the Oregon Ducks covered 9.5 points against USC. In the more profitable and arguably more difficult NFL competition, that, too, could be coming to a close, as only two entries are left. Both NFL entries won last week — one person had the Cowboys +3.5 on Thanksgiving and the other had the Panthers +10.5 on Sunday — meaning we will have to wait at least another week to see who beat out 7,140 other entries to take home the $150,000 prize.
Bets To Know
The STN Sports Books are constantly looking to expand the betting menu for our guests. Check the STN Sports App for National Finals Rodeo betting options.
Weekly Winners
This parlay is unrivaled. Congrats to this bettor who threw $10 on this 10-team paper parlay handicap 2 way during College Football Rivalry Week and cashed for $7,500:
-Missouri
-Louisville
-Alabama
-Clemson
-Houston
-Miami
-Ohio State
-Oregon
-Fresno State
-Virginia