By DANIEL BEHRINGER
LVSportsBiz.com
If you’d been thinking about betting on the Vegas Golden Knights but were looking for value, you had your chance.
It came last Monday when the Knights hit the road to play the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks were heavily favored at -180, and VGK were available at a juicy +160.
It’s almost ancient history by now, but the Knights stormed to a 7-3 win over the Sharks and a sweet payday for those who bet on the ‘dog.
We were not out and about that day, but we usually see a reverse line at at least one of the local shops. So imagine that the Knights at -1.5 goals at say +300 or +350.
The Knights obviously are playing well now so expect some inflated lines from the books.
But while the Knights are driving toward the playoffs, there’s another sport that will soon command attention on the multiple monster monitors at the books. And that is Major League baseball.
The true bleary-eyed baseball fan was awake and watching in the predawn hours of Wednesday morning on ESPN as the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland A’s, 9-7, in an opening day game played at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was the earliest ever opening day game for Major League baseball and drew 45,787 fans, most of them cheering for the Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki. The Mariners were +145 and the total, set at 9, went over in the fourth inning in a game that saw 16 total base hits.
The Mariners, this time -120 also won the second game of the abbreviated series, 5-4, in a game that saw 19 base hits. However, the total stayed under 9.5 runs.
But by Thursday with the First Four NCAA men’s basketball games complete, the field of 64 was drawing nearly all of the attention in the books with SRO seating, brightly colored containers of iced beer and a profusion of parlay cards, betting sheets and comp drink tickets in clear view.
We were near the book at one of the local joints, and baskets and big plays produced a sonic-boom-like sound that would drown out normal conversation. We didn’t have any money on the game, but we were disappointed to see UNR, which went off as a 3-point favorite, bow out to Florida, 71-60. Success in the tournament often goes to teams peaking at just the right time, and the Wolf Pack peaked months ago.
Later Thursday, with most of the opening day NCAA games in the books, the streaking Golden Knights blanked the Winnipeg Jets, 5-0, rewarding both fans of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and bettors who laid -180 or gambled a little more and played the puck line at around +160.
Friday brought 16 more basketball games, the cheers cascading across the book like rolling thunder during monsoon season. We meandered through one of the books, where half-empty and empty beer bottles probably outnumbered fans, 2-1. A clan of Wisconsin Badger fans seemed to be enjoying their Budweisers and mustered occasional applause even though their team, laying -1.5, lost to a very trendy ‘dog, Oregon, 72-54.
Late Friday, we took an early peek at the Saturday line on the VGK vs. the Detroit Red Wings and were mildly surprised to see the Knights at around -335. We were even more surprised to see the Knights go off at -400 and would have been sorely tempted by the +330 buyback. It’s still a hockey game, of course, and the -400 struck us as wildly inflated. ‘Dog bettors had a fine payday when the Red Wings dropped the VGK in overtime, 3-2.
Saturday and Sunday, of course, set the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament. Remarkably, most of the tops seeds were still in action and few brackets went through the shredder even though No. 2 Tennessee need overtime against Iowa and Duke, the No. 1 overall seed, needed a Houdini-like escape against Central Florida in a Sunday afternoon thriller.
What’s next?
The regional semifinals in the NCAA men’s tournament get underway Thursday and will conclude Sunday with the coronation of the Final Four. The women’s Final Four gets underway April 5 with the Championship Game on April 7.
And the rest of the Major League baseball teams will mark their opening day Thursday.
Looking even further ahead, the NBA playoffs start April 13.
And playoffs in NCAA men’s hockey begin Friday with the Frozen Four title game also slated for April 13.
As for the Vegas Golden Knights, they play Monday at the St. Louis Blues with the Knights currently at +110.
With the Knights ‘dogs again, bettors might wonder: Is there value there?