With the NFL approaching its first quarter point of the season, the baseball playoffs in full effect and the NBA and NHL seasons here, ain’t this a wonderful time of the year? True sports fans are happier than a tick on a fat dog. On Sunday, oddsmakers were certainly smiling when the Commanders, with a backup quarterback, bested the Seahawks as an 8.5-point underdog.
“We did exceptionally well on the Commanders. The Browns game we did well on, and also the Steelers over Cincinnati,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos Race and Sports Book Director. Whereas the Commanders win smoked 92% of the moneyline bets and 71% of ATS tickets on Seattle, it was another team in the NFC East that burned the Book: the Cowboys, who lost on a walk-off field goal to the Ravens after a series of bad end-of-game decisions. The Ravens win cashed a $400,000 parlay that was tied to the 49ers on the moneyline. The Red Rock guest collected $777,777.
“It was unbelievable the way they found a way to lose that game. But the Eagles aren’t any good; the Giants have the injuries there; the Commanders have all their injuries; this should have easily been a division the Cowboys could win, but I’m afraid they’re not any good either.” The Eagles’ loss to the Bears and 3rd-string quarterback Case Keenum on Monday was another huge boost for the Book, especially after a guest laid a $500,000 bet on Philly.
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 Highlights
The Raiders got all the love over the weekend, and that wasn’t good for oddsmakers. Going into the game at New Orleans, the hometown boys were 3.5-point underdogs but got 66% of the ticket count.
“I thought they were in a bad spot going into New Orleans with the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina,” Esposito said. “No one can cover Brock Bowers. It’s obvious what a big difference that makes, and a veteran quarterback like Kirk Cousins is really perfect for that young team.” Las Vegas will be tested this week, though, when the Kansas City Chiefs come to town. The Chiefs, favorites by a full handful of points next weekend, look more vintage than a 1980s Metallica T-shirt.
Said Esposito, “Ashton Jeanty can run the ball. Cousins really solidified the quarterback position. Bowers, again, to me, is uncoverable. They could use a big-time wideout. If they somehow beat the Chiefs this week and are really rolling to the midway point around the trade deadline, there are receivers out there.”
We’re just days from the absolute mauling Jacksonville gave to New England, but guests are so far siding with the Patriots this weekend at Buffalo, who are undefeated and offensively look more explosive than a Coke bottle with a Mento.
“As much as they have struggled, they were competitive last year with the Bills, and at about a touchdown, we’ve seen some ‘dog money,” Esposito said. “A little Rams money and Seahawks money has come in, but we’re really seeing some ‘dog money show this week on the Patriots.”
Last Man Standing
In the NFL Last Man Standing contest, which nets the winner an aggregate payout of $150,000, entries are falling dropping like flies. After two weeks, STN’s NFL contest has just 606 entries still in the hunt, which is incredibly low (the competition began three weeks ago with 6,855!).
“A lot of our customers lost on the Commanders/Seahawks game,” Esposito said. So far, every NFL week has wiped out more than half of the entries. In the college football Last Man Standing contest, which pays an aggregate payout of $100,000, 3,121 people signed up, but only 449 remain. If this trend continues, we might have a winner before even setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner.
VGK Puck Drop
The Golden Knights officially returned to the ice on Tuesday night, with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Will that be a sign of things to come? “They’re a really talented team. I mean, they did lose some players in the offseason because of the salary cap constraints, but still a very tough barn to play in, with a great fan base,” Esposito said.
“They’re still one of the top four or five teams in the league.” The VGK are coming into the season tied with Edmonton with the 4th-lowest odds to win the Stanley Cup, behind only the Panthers, Hurricanes and Avalanche. “From the fans’ side of it, we’re excited about the Knights. It always draws people to the room and the excitement factor,” Esposito said. “It seems to always be the case that from the fans’ side, we are Go, Knights, Go. For the business side of it, a lot of times we’re No, Knights, No. But more so, if they win, let the game stay under, and let them not cover the puck line.”
Neither of those things happened in the Tuesday opener. It went over, and the VGK covered the puck line. When the Knights win convincingly in a high-scoring game, in regard to the book, it’s more expensive than an NBA expansion bid.
Bets To Know
STN Sports Odds Boost Combos are here 🔥
Keep an eye out on the top of the app at any given time – you’ll see more and more of these boosted combos – themed parlays with improved odds.
Weekly Winners
$5 bet, $4,000 HIT! 💰 Congrats to this STN Sports bettor for this 9-leg parlay at +79900 odds over the weekend:
✅ Dodgers -2 over Giants
✅ Astros -2 over Athletics
✅ Mariners -1 over Angels
✅ Brewers -1 over Cardinals
✅ White Sox -1 over Rockies
✅ Valkyries -7 over Wings
✅ Aces -4 over Fever
✅ Liberty +7 over Lynx
✅ Dream -8 over Mystics