On many occasions, sports betting can be tougher than Brayden McNabb’s face, but guests have continued to beat the STN Sports Books all throughout the NBA Playoffs and the Vegas Golden Knights’ magical, heart-stopping, nerve-wracking, heartburn-inducing run.
“There are a lot of people with Golden Knight money in their pocket, so they’re using that money to continue to flow through the Stanley Cup Final,” said Jason McCormick, Vice President of Station Casinos’ Race and Sports.
“To go along with the Knights money, they made money on the Spurs against the Thunder, and then they flipped to the Knicks in those first two games. The playoffs on both sides of the Cup and the NBA finals have not been good, and guests are just kind of rolling that money night after night as these games alternate nights to beat us.”
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…
World Cup
Your destination to catch all of the soccer action is at STN Sportsbooks. Book your table now ahead of time and receive a Michelob Ultra soccer swag bag, featuring t-shirts, koozies, and more, while supplies last. Now, for the action…
In years past, the biggest sporting event in the world featured a field of 32 teams, but this year, things are more shaken up than a Las Vegas earthquake, with 48 countries in the field. But that certainly doesn’t mean they’re all good or threats to win it. “In this group stage, we could see some real domination from the top 10 or top 12 teams in the world as they get kind of some of those smaller countries, so look for the top teams to do really, really well in the group stage,” McCormick said.
“Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil, we know that we’re going to get a lot of people betting on them. I think that we’re going to see a lot of national pride in the buildings during these games, and Mexico and the US both have a very, very good chance of getting out of the group stage and winning their group. So the more success we see from Mexico and the United States, I think we’ll get more and more handle against these European and South American powerhouses.”
NHL
We’re just four games into the Stanley Cup Final, but it’s on pace to be the most-bet series in the history of STN Sports, as Vegas fans are rabid for their Knights, particularly after laying waste to Colorado, giving the team momentum. Thus far, the handle is exceeding the two previous VGK Stanley Cup runs, which hold the record for the highest handle.
“We’re seeing all these records on the ice, and I think at the end of this series, should it be a six or seven-game series, I think we’ll be talking about records and handle in the Stanley Cup Final,” McCormick said.
And guests aren’t just betting the pregame lines, but they are hammering in-play betting, too, especially the overs, which have cashed in the first four games. “Prior to the series, I thought that these were two absolutely incredible defensive clubs with great goaltending, and we’ve seen nothing but overs so far on a record pace for goals in a Family Cup final,” McCormick said. And a Final it’s been. With both teams giving up big leads, this series has seen more insanity than a late-night meal at Waffle House… if you know, you know.
NBA
With all the marquee names, the NBA Finals are better cast than a primary election ballot, but in the first two games, guests were all over the underdog New York Knicks. “My expectation was that they’d come back on the Spurs in game two. However, they just doubled down and took the Knicks again in game two, and so the two games in San Antonio weren’t good for us,” McCormick said.
On Monday, some Spurs money showed up, as guests assumed San Antonio was in desperation mode, and they were rewarded with Wemby and Co. winning 115-111. It was the Knicks’ first loss in 46 days, and the trumping came in the presence of 45-47. “It was almost desperation for NBA bettors. If there was any time that this young Spurs team had to pull the win, it had to be there at game three,” McCormick said. Still, the Book is begging for a New York series win to limit liability.
“The Spurs are still the worst-case scenario, and obviously, when we talk about a win-loss standpoint, and we don’t have a win standpoint. So we’re a loser on both teams, but a smaller loser on the Knicks,” McCormick added.
A’s
The Oakland-Sacramento-Las Vegas A’s have been calling Summerlin home this week, and there’s likely to be some high-scoring games, given the state of the soon-to-be hometown team. Said McCormick, “They’ve got a real problem among their pitching staff right now. They’ve lost just about all of their starters that they had when they were starting the year; the injury bug has definitely hit them from that standpoint.
The one thing that this team does really well is hit the baseball. They’ve got some real mashers that can do some damage, and now that we’re going to this park in the shadow of Red Rock.” The six-game stretch started with the Brewers and a 15-14 game and then finishes with the Rockies, the latter of whom has pitching that’s been torched more than a tiki bar.
“We’re expecting some big-time scoring when the Rockies get here,” McCormick said. “As a bookmaker, I won’t be surprised if we need to make an adjustment as the week goes on with these six games here, as I expect some balls to be hit into City National Arena and into the parking lot.”
Bets To Know
The eyes of the entire world will be on America for the next month as the World Cup kicks off, and STN Sports Books will have a Super Bowl-esque list of ways to bet, including corner kicks, goal scorers, first-half betting, and more.
Weekly Winners
$5 to win $240.27! A nice +4705 hit for this STN Sports bettor on Tuesday:
-Mercury +8.5
-Sky +9
-Marlins ML
-Dodgers ML
-Tigers ML
-Rays ML