On Sports Gambling: What’s a Fair Price to Pay to Bet on the Vegas Golden Knights?
What’s a fair price to pay to bet on the Vegas Golden Knights?
Both the casual and the diehard gambler might have been asking that question Wednesday morning after the Phoenix Coyotes dismantled the VGK, 5-2, the previous night.
After opening Monday at -215 in some spots, the line on the Golden Knights rose like a Space X rocket burning exotic fuel. At Station Casinos, the number soared as high as -310 before settling at -300. But at the Westgate and Wynn Las Vegas, the closing number was -240 and -250, respectively, according to Vegas Insider.
That’s obviously a wide enough difference for the black-chip bettor to shop around and maybe even drive around if he or she doesn’t have the betting apps on their phone.
But the line on the Coyotes didn’t rise that much. Station opened Phoenix at +200, let it rise as high as +230 before settling at +220.
The Tuesday game was a tale of two teams. The Coyotes stopped an 0-3-1 road skid, according to The Associated Press, but the VGK sustained their fourth straight home loss. It was also the sixth loss in eight games for Golden Knights though obviously it won’t begin to deter the 18,000+ rabid, glass-banging, poster-waving, high-fivin’ fans who show up at T-Mobile Arena.
Although on Wednesday, a local newspaper played on its front page a newsphoto of Knights fans heading for the exits under the cleverly written headline “Golden Retreaters.” And sometimes in the deep, dark recesses of our minds, we wonder: What would happen if the Golden Knights were just, well, average? Would the crowds still come? Would the Las Vegas glitterati buy jerseys and pose for pictures at the games? What would happen to the #GoKnightsGo hashtag? Or — dare we say it — will the Las Vegas Raiders become the new hot ticket when they open in 2020?
Meanwhile, there was college basketball being played on Tuesday. Duke created a stir and lit up social media when it roared back from a 23-point deficit to defeat the Louisville Cardinals, 71-69. It was a gutsy comeback though not enough to assuage Blue Devils bettors who were laying 7.5 points. As steadfast followers of these posts know, we like Duke to be cutting down the nets for the national championship on April 8 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. One square local shop has the futures price on Duke at +160. But serious bettors will want to shop around.
Also, in what seems to be a familiar refrain, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels managed a win against Air Force, 77-72, but failed to cover 9.5 points.
By Wednesday, we were looking for a college game to put actual money on. Not much, you understand, but enough to make it interesting. We settled on South Carolina +15 vs. Tennessee. Fading No. 1 ranked teams isn’t exactly rocket science, and you can assume the line is at least slightly inflated. But favorites sometimes come out strong so we hedged a little with a first-half bet on the Vols. And then tossed in over 149 just for good measure, based on some semi-reliable information from a semi-reliable professional handicapper.
Tennessee jumped out to a 49-36 first-half lead, but South Carolina rallied strongly in the second half for a very nice cover on a final score of 85-73. And yes, the total slid over.
By Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights of #GoKnightsGo fame were back in action. While it was Valentine’s Day, there were no sweetheart prices for the local team. In fact, this time the price — are you ready for this? — came down on the local team, from -130 at Station Casinos and -125 at Coast properties before settling at -110 at Station and -115 at Coast.
Knights fans were again disappointed as the local team absorbed a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs. And with betting lines coming down on the VGK, we might finally be seeing doses of reality in the pricing.
But by Saturday, the Knights were back on the ice and bettors were obviously backing them to break a franchise record, five-game home losing streak. The number opened around -120 but had jumped to -140 by the time we arrived at the window. According to Vegas Insider, it came back to -135 by the time the puck dropped. The VGK finally reward their zealous fans with a 5-1 thumping of the Nashville Predators.
And to complete Saturday, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels survived at San Jose State, winning, 71-64, after trailing at half-time but never really came close to covering -13.
There were some excellent college hoops matchups and real hockey games being played Sunday. We know: We lost real money thinking the Flyers-Red Wings game would easily go over the total of 6. A Philadelphia 3, Detroit 1, final score just didn’t quite cut it.
However, we also had a little bit invested in the total going over in what might have been called an NBA exhibition/slam-dunk contest. The ticket read over 316 and a final score of 178-164 in the NBA All-Star game means we might be able to afford a breakfast special somewhere if we don’t get carried away and over tip.
The VGK next play Monday at the Colorado Avalanche. As of this writing, the Knights are -125. Will that price change before game time? You can almost bet on it.
