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STN Sports Weekly Rundown
February 1, 2023
Station Casinos Dodge ‘Chief’ Concern on Conference Championships
After 283 games, the stage has been set and the 2023 Super Bowl will feature the No. 1 seeds from both conferences: the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Get used to hearing the term “Andy Reid Bowl” a lot over the next two weeks. Big Red, of course, is the winningest coach in Eagles history; he’s also a mustache whisker away from becoming the winningest coach in Chiefs history. This kind of winning isn’t even done at Encore or its sister property.
“Getting the Andy Reid Bowl really was kind of the best-case scenario for us based on our future book,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos’ Race and Sports Book Director.
With all that in mind, let’s quickly look back over the sports landscape and dish out some insight on what’s ahead in the big game and on the STN Sports App and at the Station Casinos Race and Sports Books…
NFC Best
The NFC Championship game was about as exciting as a C-SPAN broadcast. In Sunday’s opening game, the Eagles dismantled the Brock Purdy-to-Josh Johnson-to-Brock Purdy-led 49ers 31-7. Philly, who was favored by 3, was tacking on points like a player with a Boarding Pass card, and a vaunted San Fransisco defense couldn’t do anything about it.
The 49ers offense, meanwhile, was moving less than I-15 was over the weekend during its closure. This, of course, was much to the delight of guests. “We saw fairly one-sided action on the Eagles, but really keeping that game under was critical,” Esposito said. “We were in pretty good shape and would have come out on a plus side with either the 49ers or Eagles.” In the end, the 49ers got KO’d by the team that hails from Rocky’s town.
AFC Best
The Bengals were a chief concern in more ways than one. “There was a tremendous amount of liability rolling into the Bengals,” Esposito said. “The Bengals and over would’ve been the worst case and clearly taken away all the profits from the first game.” The line for the AFC Championship was a sight to behold, as it was more active than a California fault line.
While Cincinnati was favored for most of the week leading up to the game, Kansas City closed as 2-point favorites. The uncertainly of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes — who was nursing a high ankle sprain — was the main thing pushing bettors toward Cincy (the number swung back to Kansas City -2 when Mahomes was shown in practice without limitations.). That didn’t convince most bettors though.
At Station Casinos, the ticket counts heavily favored Joe Burrow and the boys. Not only was there more overall money bet on the Bengals, but 70% of the tickets were also on Cincy, too. Mahomes, though, did Mahomes things and led his team to a 23-20 win. Kansas City covers. The under covers. Just how the Book drew it up.
The Big One
Moments after the line for Super Bowl LVII was posted it became clear that guests were backing the birds in a big way. Not long after the initial line went up, the spread shot up quicker than a high school boy whose parents catch him looking at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. The line quickly jumped by 2.5 points before eventually dropping a point and settling in. When all is said and done, the Eagles figure to be a very small favorite.
“We discussed if Philly should be the favorite or if we should open as a pick, and the public told us right away that they felt Philly should be the favorite,” Esposito said. “With the super early push on the Eagles, the ticket count and money right now favors the Eagles, but we’re not gonna see the bulk of our action until the days leading up to the game.” And, Station’s top oddsmaker suspects there will be more Philly money coming in.
Although Kansas City hasn’t exactly been an against-the-spread darling this year, going 8-11-1, they are incredible when given an extra week to prepare. Like the gum, when Big Red is fresh, he’s pretty hard to beat. Andy Reid actually has the best record in NFL history when coming off a bye. Lord knows Mahomes and Travis Kelce need to heal faster than a dog at a cat parade.
“Andy Reid might have a little bit of extra motivation playing against Philly,” Esposito said. “I don’t think he’ll say that, but it’s gotta be something that’s talked about and has been in the media.”
The Eagles really are the belle of the [foot] ball right now, having broken San Fransisco and the New York Giants like a Valentine’s Day heart. They’re third in NFL history in sacks per season.
In other words, the team from The City of Brotherly Love is actually mean on the defensive side of the ball. Their offense is no joke either. Plus, they’re also healthy, which is something Kansas City can’t say. This is a team that put 31 points on the board against the 49ers defense, and Jalen Hurts didn’t throw a touchdown pass. That’s how impressive Philly is.
Bets To Know
It’s all about the Big Game. Over 500 different prop offerings will be available in the coming days for Philly vs. KC, from coin toss to final score. We particularly love the cross-sport props that are tied to the game. Check the app as we’re adding offerings daily.
Weekly Winners
8-teamer for the win! Congrats to this bettor who turned $100 into $15,349 between basketball and the two Conference Championship games:
– HORNETS +6 -110
– HEAT OV 223.5 -110
– GRIZZLIES -8.5 -110
– CAVS -8 -110
– CLIPPERS OV 214.5 -110
– BUCKS -9 -110
– EAGLES -3 -105
– CHIEFS -2 -110