Hot takes, bad beats and all things sports betting, a weekly newsletter by Steven Money .
STN Sports Weekly Rundown
April 13, 2022
A poem: Tiger missed the red, and baseball is fun, it’s time for playoff hoops and the Knights are still making a run (eat your heart out, Whitman!). With a plethora of sports happening, the last week has been nothing short of a barnburner — and, like the Vegas real estate market, there’s no sign of slowing down! Let’s quickly look over the sport’s landscape and take a peek at what’s ahead on the court, on the ice, on the links, on the field, on the STN Sports App and at the Station Casinos Sports Book.
Tiger Troubles
Golf officially has a new star, and his name is Scottie Scheffler. The 25-year-old won the green jacket at Sunday’s Masters, something a handful of bettors expected (he was, after all, the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world). Of course, most golf fans — not the Sports Book, necessarily — were hoping Tiger Woods would somehow find his old form and shock the world. Tiger was by far Station’s biggest liability going into the tournament. There’s a good chance he was Las Vegas’ biggest liability, too!
“Seeing guests actually bet four figures on Tiger, it speaks volumes to his popularity with people feeling like he could do this,” said Station Sports Book Director Chuck Esposito. “I can say this, I’m gonna speak for the industry, my educated guess is that this was the largest number liability-wise on a major golf event ever because of the extremely high odds on him.” After a strong start and even staying in the red after round 1, Tiger proved he can play (all but ensuring you won’t see towering high odds on him for a long time). Still, Scottie won, as did the sports book. The only place you’re going to see a Tiger roar is at the zoo or Joe Exotic’s former home.
Balls And Bats
Baseball has officially begun, and bettors are finding their favorites. Literally. “There’s a lot of early parity, which has been really good for our side of things,” Esposito said. “Bettors are still backing the favorites.” Toronto has been the apple of the guest’s eyes early on. “When you look at the Jays, we knew they were going to be good coming in, but they seem to be a team getting a tremendous amount of backing overall,” Esposito said. “They’re a popular bet, and so is Philadelphia.” Thus far, the real surprise of the American League might be that future-Las-Vegas-A’s aren’t getting steamrolled, especially given that their payroll is the same today as it was in 1991 (FACT!).
Follow The Money
Fans are not feeling the Jazz hands. As soon as the NBA playoff matchups were announced, guests pounced on the Mavericks, forecasting a series win over the Utah Jazz, who have limped into the postseason. The Mavs, by the way, might be without Luka Doncic. They went 8-9 when he was sidelined, so there’s that. In the words-ish of the great Pussycat Dolls: Doncic Wish Your Point Guard Was Good Like Me?
That’s Bull
Looking for a soft spot in the NBA Playoffs? Look no further than the Chicago Bulls. The Windy City’s finest went 3-21 in their games against playoff teams this season. Now they get to play the reigning champs, the Bucks. Nice draw, Chicago, nice draw. “The Bulls were seeded one, two or three in the Eastern Conference for a long time, but they really struggled,” Esposito said. “I think it’s gonna be a tough task for the Bulls to upset the Bucks. It’s just not a good matchup for Chicago.”
Ice Is Nice
Don’t look now, but the Golden Knights are rolling more than your mother-in-law’s eyes. On Tuesday, VGK lost to Vancouver but still got a point due to the overtime loss. While Mark Stone and the gang could make the playoffs via the wildcard, their best chance might be to overtake the Kings for the third spot in the division — something the Kings made more difficult with a win against lowly Chicago on Tuesday. Regardless, if that Knights can claw their way to third place in the Pacific Division, they would possibly play the Oilers. A healthy Knights squad would be favored in that series, Esposito suspects. “If they weren’t, the bettors would bet them to the favorite,” he added, citing the overwhelming action VGK gets locally.
Get off your Serta and stop sleeping on the Bruins and Rangers. Although the Panthers, Maple Leafs and Lightning are all coming into the final stretch of the regular season red hot. The Bruins are too, but no one seems to have noticed. The Bruins (and Rangers for that matter) play physical, which works in the playoffs. “I think they can make some noise because their style of play in the postseason,” Esposito said. “You look at teams like Toronto, Florida and Carolina. They score a ton of goals, but it’s always a different animal once the postseason starts.” Out West, the Blues and Wild, two teams that play lockdown style, will give teams hell in the chase for the Cup. Similar to the “defense wins championships” mentality, teams that are offensive minded and casually defensive aren’t usually crowned at the end of the day. “I think that’s one of the reasons teams like Edmonton and Toronto haven’t had a lot of success in the postseason,” Esposito said. “They can score with anybody and they love playing that open ice game back and forth, but when the postseason starts, teams lock down and that’s not their style.”
Draft Day
It’s not just beer that Stations has on draft! In the lead up to the NFL Draft, the STN Sports App and Station continues to put more and more prop bets on the board. Not even Carrot Top has this many props. “There’s a lot of fun stuff up. We want guests to be able to not only watch the the draft, but having a vested interest in the draft, too,” Esposito said.
In addition to the embarrassment of riches on the board, Red Rock is set to host a complimentary in-person interactive fan event to coincide with the opening round of the draft. The April 28 event will be hosted by former NFL coach Mike Tice and 11-season pro football vet Corey Chavous, as well as Esposito and Jason McCormick, Station Casinos Sports Book Vice President. Not only will the event feature drink specials and autograph signing opportunities, guests in attendance can enter to win draft caps from each team or even a staycation.
Bets To Know
“It’s such a vital part of baseball betting and the odds are based on who the pitcher is,” Esposito said. “So we definitely give the guests the option to list one or both pitchers in every game on the board.” Case closed.
STN Sports Weekly Winners
Check out this 8-teamer across baseball, hockey, and basketball:
– Mets -1.5 (+105)
– Canucks -1.5 (+170)
– Pelicans OV 229 (-110)
– Coyotes OV 6 (-115)
– Blues (-145)
– Flames -1.5 (+115)
– Rangers -1.5 (+105)
– Padres -1.5 (EV)