By Daniel Behringer
LVSportsBiz.com
It was a beautiful night for a baseball game.
The game-time temperature was a balmy 94 degrees, there was a gentle 11 mph breeze out to right field and nearly 9,000 fans were out at the Las Vegas Ballpark on Monday to see the Las Vegas Aviators host the Sacramento River Cats.
It was an even more pleasant evening if you had a ticket on the Aviators, at about -140, parlayed with over anywhere from 12.5 to 13.5 runs for the game.
The Aviators scored early and often that evening, then tacked on five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, to blow the game wide open and rout the Cats, 15-6.
With a winning ticket, you could almost afford the $16 helmet of nachos. And wash it down with a a $9 brewski.
We weren’t able to make the game and we didn’t have a bet down, so by Tuesday we were ready for a little action.
While there was plenty to choose from — everything from Major League baseball to the College World Series — we homed in the Seattle Storm at +7 vs. the Las Vegas Aces in WNBA action. From our vantage point, the Aces still lack the killer instinct to put away teams so we were happy to take the points, which actually moved from 6.5 to 7.
While we didn’t have tickets to the game, we were able to dial up the ESPN gamecast and watched a largely defensive battle down the stretch (if missing a slew of shots can be counted as defensive). The Storm briefly took the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Aces scored when they had to in winning, 60-56.
The posted total of 158.5 was never seriously threatened. But in-game wagering makes it even more interesting. At one point during the game, Station Casinos’ mobile app put up an in-game total of 132.5. So if you had the under, you could have doubled down on the under, or tried to arbitrage over 132.5 and cash two tickets with a middle.
In-game wagering, as most serious bettors realize, opens up an entirely new dimension in wagering. A typical Major League baseball game, for example, will include a dizzying array of shifting side totals, game totals, game run lines, inning totals, inning outcomes and total runs scored by respective teams. It’s like going from regular chess to three-dimensional chess. We suspect it’s something at which “Jeopardy!” ace James Holzhauer is extremely skilled.
Regardless, Wednesday dawned bright and early. Is there anything better than being out and about and having a breakfast special, perhaps accompanied by a Bloody Mary, and a hankering to parlay two MLB underdogs?
We were sorely tempted to parlay early starts featuring the Chicago White Sox at +280 with the Toronto Blue Jays at +215. Both ‘dogs jumped out to early leads over the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, respectively. The White Sox-Red Sox game turned into an offensive fireworks show, but the White Sox prevailed, 8-7. The Blue Jays-Yankees game played out similarly, but the Yankees scored in the bottom of the ninth to win, 8-7.
With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, it might have been wiser to parlay the twin ‘dogs on the five-inning line before bullpens come into play. And that would have been a winning (and highly profitable) wager.
We were back in action on Thursday, however, and returned to the WNBA to play the Los Angeles Sparks at +2.5 vs. the Las Vegas Aces. The number moved to +2 by the time we got to the window. But it didn’t matter as the Sparks took control of the game in the second and third quarters to easily win outright, 86-74 with the total sliding just over 158.5.
But Friday was reserved for soccer — specifically the Coupe de Monde Feminine (Women’s World Cup) in Paris. We saw the USA at even money, France at +220 and a draw at +220 with the total at 2.5 goals. We tuned in for a little to watch a determined USA team win, 2-1.
Saturday was the typical array of sports betting possibilities — from Major League baseball to the WNBA to the Camping World 300 auto racing and everything in between.
The Aces, laying 13 points, returned to the win column with a 102-97 overtime win over the Indiana Fever in a home game at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
But arguably, center stage belonged to Major League baseball with the Yankees and Red Sox resuming their rivalry at Olympic Stadium in an early Saturday morning nationwide telecast. With pitching aces going for the respective teams at the Coors Field of Europe, oddsmakers put up a total of 11.5 for the game.
A writer for a Las Vegas-based publication dedicated to gambling predicted under on the game. But the total went over in the first inning with both teams scoring six times. When the dust finally settled some 4 hours and 42 minutes later, the Yankees had outslugged the Red Sox, 17-13. (An over/under on the duration of the game might have made for a lively in-gaming wagering prop.)
But with the scoring trend established, oddsmakers quickly shifted the total for Sunday’s game between the two baseball rivals to anywhere from 15 to 16.5. With the Red Sox leading 4-2 at the end of six innings, it looked like a return to normalcy and trend clearly favored under. But the Yankees scored nine times in the seventh inning en route to a 12-8 victory.
So with another week in the books, what’s next?
— On Tuesday, USA meets England in a semifinal match in the Women’s World Cup. Fan Duel has the USA at -115, England at +310 and the total goals at 2.5. A draw is +240.
— Also on Tuesday, the Aces host the Chicago Sky. No line as of this posting, but the Aces will clearly be favored by a wide margin.
— And on Monday, the Las Vegas Aviators will host the Reno Aces at the Las Vegas Ballpark. Expect to pay in the -175 range for a ticket on the Aviators with a total in the 13-14 range. It should be another beautiful night for a ballgame.