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STN Sports Weekly Rundown

January 3, 2024

College Football Playoffs Deal STN Books a Jan. 1 Loss, & Winter Classic Windfall

Steven Money has entered the transfer portal. No longer will he be addressing you from that tired old year of 2023, but rather now as a citizen of 2024. Thus far, just hours into the new year, the STN Sports Books are flourishing in the hockey department and skirting by with the pigskin. In addition, a big slate of unknowns litter the upcoming NFL slate, as some teams will seemingly have nothing to play for.

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 Station Casinos Race and Sports Books…

NFL Regular Season Finale

Remember this when placing bets: Week 18 is not your average NFL week. Take the 49ers, for example: They’ve already locked up the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Since the Niners can’t improve their playoff spot, there is likely little chance Christian McCaffrey or Brock Purdy suit up to play the Rams. Over in AFC, the Browns are locked into the No. 3 seed. You think they’re going to play Joe Flacco after all their quarterback issues this season? Hardly. “Information becomes paramount even more so in a week like this,” said Chuck Esposito, Station Casinos’ Race and Sports Book Director. “It almost is looked at as somewhat of a preseason week for some of these teams. Every single day you are hearing more and more about players not playing.” With things changing faster than a Pampers diaper, oddsmakers will be lightning-quick to move spreads. “You might see some dramatic line swings and you could even have split favorites,” Esposito said. “That puts us in a predicament, but it also puts maybe the bettors in the same predicament a bit. We’re trying to read between the lines somewhat.”

Last Man “Stood”

We have a winner! Entering the weekend, only two entries from a field of 6,324 remained in the hunt for the $150,000 prize in Station Casinos’ Last Man Standing NFL completion. One contestant unfortunately took the Rams -6.5 at the Giants. Los Angeles won but failed to cover. The winner of the $150,000 prize had the Ravens -3.5 against the Dolphins, a game Baltimore won easily. Collecting $150,000 is a nice way to close out 2023… By the way, how about a loan?

College Ball

The STN Sports Book is rarely cheering for the favorites in not one, but two high-profile games, but that’s where it found itself on New Year’s Day. Oddsmakers needed Michigan to beat Alabama in the Rose Bowl, and it needed Texas to beat Washington in the Sugar Bowl. The Book got half its wish when the Wolverines cut down the Tide like a dry cleaner.

“There was a lot of money line play on both underdogs. We really needed Michigan. It would’ve been a very bad way to kick off the new year had both ‘dogs come in,” Esposito said. Still, it wasn’t a great outcome — both games hit the over, which wasn’t good. Plus, Washington money line was a massively popular bet. All and all, the Book was a small loser on the playoff games.

College ‘Ship

The stage is set: The Michigan Wolverines will square off against the Washington Huskies in Houston on Jan. 8 for all the marbles. The line opened with Michigan as a four-point favorite and it has gone up… and that’s just fine with the Huskies, as they’ve been underdogs a few times this season and relished like a Turf Grill hot dog. Not only did they beat Texas on Monday, but you’ll recall they bested Oregon twice this season as ‘dogs. The National Championship Game is a huge contrast in styles — Michigan pounds the ball with the run game and lets the defense shine. Washington’s offense, meanwhile, leans heavily on the passing game and usually puts so many points on the board that its less-stellar defense just has to get a few stops.

“It’s an intriguing matchup, and I do think it’s going to generate a huge handle because it’s two schools that are both undefeated coming in,” Esposito said. “We do have some liability on Washington to win the playoff. We’re in much better shape with Michigan, so at this point, just based on the entire package, we are Wolverine fans. We’re still a few days away and that could change dramatically.” Some of the early money hasn’t been on Washington with the points, but rather Washington on the money line. “I think you’re going to see people betting Michigan on the point spread and people betting Washington on the money line, which is similar to what we see in the Super Bowl,” Esposito said. “It’s possible that we have a quasi four-point middle working for us.”

The Classics

The Knights were anything but golden during The Winter Classic. In what has become one of the showcase games of the year for the NHL, the VGK hardly showed up against the Seattle Kraken. No surprise here, but the money and ticket counts massively favored the Golden Knights. “It was a good outcome for us,” Esposito said. The fact that the Winter Classic was a hyped-up isolated NHL game that involved the Knights always meant the handle was going to be bigger than a Jan. 1 morning hangover.

“It was probably the highest NHL handle of the year,” Esposito said. Considering the Book struggled in some of the earlier college bowl games on New Year’s Day – which included a guest betting $50,000 on the Tennessee Volunteers, who easily covered — a Kraken win was a must. “Had the Knights won and Alabama and Washington both won outright, that definitely would not have been a good start to the new year for us,” Esposito said.

Bets To Know

Now on the new STN Sports App: Same Game Parlays! Create a parlay by combining multiple picks within the same game. Look for the SGP button within the new app.

Weekly Winner

$50 parlay to a $40,000 WIN. Congrats to this STN Sports bettor who hit this impressive 10-teamer over the weekend:

– Raiders +3.5

– Ravens -3.5

– Bears -2.5

– Ole Miss +4.5

– Maryland +6.5

– Ravens over 46.5

– Bears over 37.5

– Lions +5.5

– Missouri +5.5

– Georgia -20.5