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STN Sports Weekly Rundown
April 10, 2024
UConn Hurts Books, Women’s Tournament Sets Record
Guests were marching to the bank last month, and the trend continued into April thanks to the NCAA tournament. “The overall handle was up compared to last year, but the win was considerably down,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos’ Race and Sports Book Director. “This was a really good march for the guests.”
Favorites went 39-28 against the spread in the men’s tournament, making it the chalkiest tourney since 2008. Days at the Book have been darker than an eclipsed sun. “We had kind of preached more parity, and it was quite the contrary, starting with the first couple of days with an onslaught of favorites covering. This was the best tournament that I can remember for the guests over the last five to 10 years,” Esposito said.
With all that in mind, let’s quickly look back at the past week in sports and peek at what’s ahead on the STN Sports app and at the STN Sports Books…
UConn Does It Again
The dogs were barking on Monday night, but not the kind that the STN Sports Books wanted. The public and sharps were all over UConn in March and April, as the Huskies gave bettors no reason to pull a John Calipari and jump ship. UConn entered the game as 7-point favorites, and they covered against Purdue pretty easily, shutting the Boilermakers down. STN Books typically do well when ‘dogs cover, but not the Huskies, who covered 12 straight tournament games, dating back to last year.
“Everything was UConn — the spread, money line, second half, in-play. We needed Purdue but couldn’t get there,” Esposito said. Prior to tipoff, 60% of tickets were on the Huskies -7 and 59% were on them on the money line. “UConn just keeps their foot on the gas and there’s just no let up in that team. They don’t make the mistake, they find the open guy and then they bury the shot,” Esposito said. “They’re just a really, really good team, and I don’t blame the betters for staying on top of that and backing them every week.”
Records Breakers
Records are made to be broken — again and again and again. Last week, Iowa and LSU set a record for handle on a women’s basketball game. Just a few days later, that record was old news, as the Iowa/UConn handle set a new mark. Two days later, a new handle record was again set on the Iowa/South Carolina game. The Caitlin Clark effect is real. On Sunday, most of the money was on the underdog Hawkeyes, meaning the Sports Books won with the Gamecocks winning and covering the 7-point spread.
“They bet Iowa heavily on the money line and the point spread, and the fact that it was a quasi blowout, as well, was very beneficial for us,” Esposito said, estimating that 70% of the tickets were on Iowa. “The handle on the women’s tournament was off the charts.” How much were much were people into it? ABC drew 18.7 million viewers for the women’s game, making it the largest audience for any basketball game (men’s or women’s, college or professional) since 2019, and the women’s championship matchup was the featured game on Red Rock’s main screen with audio instead of the Vegas Golden Knights game, which was occurring at the same time.
“We’re already thinking about ways to capitalize on this next year,” Esposito revealed, even hinted that a Last Women Standing Contest isn’t out of the question.
Last Man Standing
Of the 2,970 entries that began the Last Man Standing contest for the men’s NCAA tournament, only 20 remained heading into the championship game. After all was said and done, 12 entries made it through unscathed, meaning they’ll split the $59,975 pot. The winners are all taking home $4,997 each.
“This is the most winners that we’ve ever had,” Esposito said. “Again, I think that speaks volumes for the amount of favorites that covered this year.”
The Masters
This isn’t the November 2024 election, but all eyes are on Georgia this week. The greatest golf tournament in the world, The Masters, begins on Thursday in Augusta, but will it end up being the Scotty Scheffler show? The 2022 Masters champion is a heavy favorite heading into the tournament, and the most tickets have been punched for him. The next two, in order, are Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka.
All tournament long, the STN Sports App will have prop bets and they’ll reshuffle daily. Right now, the largest prop bet is tied to whether Tiger Woods will make the cut. Tiger has made 23 straight cuts at Augusta, and guests are leaning toward him making it 24 in a row.
“Each of the last 18 winners of The Masters have been tied for 11th or better after the first round, so getting off to a good start really is paramount when I think you look at wagering with the adjusted odds going into round two, three and then the final round on Sunday,” Esposito said.
VGK Postseason Hopes
The Vegas Golden Knights are barreling toward the playoffs like a Las Vegas Monorail. The boys from the Fortress certainly appear destined for the postseason, but they’ve been kind of clunky in the lead up to the playoffs. While they’re losing, the teams in front of them are winning.
“The public is still betting them hot and heavy,” Esposito said. “Once the postseason rolls around, this might be a totally different team. They’re built to win in the postseason. They’ve got a huge home ice advantage when they play at T-Mobile here, they’re defending champs and although they kind of limp in a little bit with being a wild card team, I still think they’re an extremely dangerous foe in the West.”
Bets To Know
Not only is UFC 300 this weekend, but so too is Power Slap and sumo wrestling (yes, you read that right). World Championship Sumo, perfectly billed as the “The Biggest Show on Earth,” will be available for betting on the STN Sports App this weekend. Sounds like a heavy task.
Weekly Winners
Sometimes it’s just a good old fashioned March Hoops future. The NC State Wolfpack couldn’t win it all, but they did win the South region, which is what one STN Sports bettor hoped for when they placed a $100 wager on them at +5000 odds on March 20th. Congrats!