As we start turning our attention to the hardcourt, other sports are still popping up like a 303 In the Cut limited engagement. While STN Sports Books will also take bets and show Power Slap on its screens this weekend, much attention will be paid to the World Baseball Classic, which kicks off this week.
Through five iterations of the World Baseball Classic — three of which Japan has won — the tournament features a who’s who of major leaguers on all squads, and, incredibly, the USA has only won once, back in 2017. Similar to Olympic hockey, though, America could break the lengthy championship drought.
“The USA is the favorite, but Japan has a lot of big-time major leaguers, and the Dominican and Puerto Rico are also really good teams,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Sports Book Director. “Just from a wagering perspective and an interest perspective, with the start of baseball season right around the corner, the baseball classic will definitely draw some interest.”
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…
Blue Blood Battle
And just like that, the college basketball season is almost as over as a Vegas winter (hello, 80-degree days!) The madness is just weeks away, but there’s little consensus on who college basketball’s best team is.
“When you look at the Top 25, I don’t think there’s any shockers right now in it. I think with the NIL and the transfer portal, you’ve lost a little bit of David, but you still have Goliath,” Esposito said.
“You really have to dig hard now to find Cinderella. I think there are 17 or 18 teams that I could see cutting down the nets. I think it’s really, really wide open. There’s a lot of parity, but it’s parity with the blue bloods. You’re not really seeing that kind of dark horse that David or Cinderella right now. Now, with that said, it seems that every year comes some team that no one is even thinking about making a deep run, and that would be good for us. We’re really looking to see who’s going to wear that glass slipper this year.”
Among those blue bloods with a legitimate shot at winning it all and consistently regarded as a premier team is Michigan, which possesses the most liability for STN Sports Books. Houston, Vanderbilt, and Wisconsin also present liability.
Rooting For Cinderella
One of the best stories in college basketball has been the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks. While they’re still the last remaining undefeated team in hoops, they’re being more discounted than a happy hour drink. “They’d be a prohibitive dog against any of the top 10 teams,” Esposito said, adding that the Saint Louis Billikens are a bit of a Cinderella among the tall trees of the power conferences.
“We love a Cinderella story, but we haven’t seen it the last couple of years, and I think the NIL money and the transfer portal really have reshaped college basketball.” For the time being, guests have jumped on the Redhawks bandwagon and bet them nightly (and have largely been rewarded, as the MAC squad has a 19-7 ATS record.) “They still get backing, but that’s against teams in their conference, who they have just shown to be far superior. The tournament is going to be much different.”
It’s entirely possible that Miami could be playing name-brand teams early in the NCAA Tournament in the early rounds. “They’re not used to playing teams that have considerable depth, so it’s hard to quantify how good they’ll be in the tournament, but they’re the only kind of Cinderella, in my opinion, the Top 25 right now.”
NBA Outlook
While a couple of NBA teams are tanking more than the U.S. Army, the same can’t be said for the San Antonio Spurs, who are becoming an increasingly popular bet, especially after going undefeated in the month of February. In the future book, the Spurs, Lakers, Warriors, and Mavericks all present liability. But, as good as San Antonio has been, do they offer any value? Maybe. But there’s a team farther East that could offer even more: the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Picking up James Harden, that was definitely key, but they’re still not talked about in the top maybe four or five teams in the NBA. I think they’re right after those teams, so I think they have a little bit of value,” Esposito said. In fairness, the Cavs might give fans some pause, as they’re one of the worst ATS teams in the league, covering just 42% of the time. However, in Harden’s first 10 games with the Cavs, Cleveland went 7-3.
Bets To Know
Guests can now sign up for the Men’s Last Man Standing competition for the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Players can purchase an entry into the winner-take-all competition in person at any Station Casinos property or Station-run Sports Book. Each entry is $25, and bettors can increase their chances of winning by purchasing multiple entries. Any contestant who purchases four entries will receive a fifth entry complimentary. The last man (or woman) standing will win a guaranteed aggregate payout of $50,000.
Weekly Winners
Like magic, one guest found themselves turning a single five-dollar bill into $1,684 after hitting a seven-team college hoops parlay last weekend. The guest correctly predicted that six favorites would cover and that Oral Roberts/Kansas City game would go over 149.