On Sports Betting: Bettors Show Their Enthusiasm For Football Loudly While Baseball Lurks

By Daniel Behringer

LVSportsBiz.com

 

There’s a word to describe NFL fans and bettors.

L-O-U-D.

A big play in the Los Angeles Rams in the New Orleans Saints-Rams game on Sunday generated an enthusiastic (and probably biased) wave of cheers and applause at one of the Las Vegas race and sports books.

There was more near-deafening sound to accompany the twists and turns in the final minutes of the Chicago Bears-Denver Broncos game, won by the Bears, 16-14.

The noise level alone in the book tells you it’s football season.

So with the outcome of the Cleveland Browns-New York Jets game on Monday pending, the other four most popular choices in the Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest, with the official contest lines and the results were:

— Pittsburgh Steelers, -4. That was a loser as the Seattle Seahawks won outright, 28-26.

— Dallas Cowboys, -5. That was a winner with the Cowboys rolling over the Washington Redskins, 31-21.

— Cincinnati, -2. A loser with the San Francisco 49ers thumping the Bengals, 41-17.

— The Rams, -2.5. A winner with the Rams beating the Saints, who lost quarterback Drew Brees to injury, 27-9.

Also worth noting from Sunday:

— In the middle of a raucous Sunday afternoon of football, a hockey game appeared on a big screen at the book. It happened to be the Vegas Golden Knights, who defeated the Phoenix Coyotes in a preseason game at T-Mobile Arena, 6-2. The VGK were -170, and over 6 hit.

— At the Thomas & Mack, the Las Vegas Aces beat the Chicago Sky, 93-92 on Dearica Hamby’s dramatic 3-point shot with time winding down. However, they failed to cover -4 in their WNBA playoff game. Over 176.5 was a winner.

— Martin Truex Jr. took the checkered flag in the South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the opening race of the NASCAR playoffs. He paid about 8-1.

But let’s back up. They are still playing Major League Baseball. And there are huge favorites and big underdogs this time of year.

Consider the New York Yankees vs. the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees were a huge -340 favorite last Tuesday. The Tigers were +280 on the buyback. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers were -360 at the Baltimore Orioles, who were +300.

You can expect that as the regular season winds down. Both the Yankees and the Dodgers are headed for the post-season and possibly the World Series. The Tigers and the Orioles, however, were mathematically eliminated sometime in August.

What’s a sports bettor to do? Consider this was a Tuesday. College and professional football games were days away.

A professional handicapper at covers.com had a suggestion. Bet the Dodgers and their power-packed lineup on an enhanced -3.5 run line. Not a bad idea, actually, although it’s not a line you’ll find at most Las Vegas sports books. In fact, it turned out to be right on target with the Dodgers defeating the Orioles, 7-3.

As for the Pinstripes, they jumped out to a 6-0 lead over the Tigers, and the rout appeared to be on. Unfortunately for Yankees bettors and those who put the Yankees on a parlay ticket, perhaps on a conventional run line, the Tigers awoke and also began scoring. In fact, when the game was over, Detroit had won, 21-11, giving those +280 backers a sweet payday.

Just because a team is a big ‘dog doesn’t mean it’s lost its fight.

On Tuesday, the Oakland A’s, +145, beat the Houston Astros, 21-7 (seriously, that’s a baseball score, not a football score.) The Philadelphia Phillies, +160 home ‘dogs to the Atlanta Braves, won, 6-5. The Colorado Rockies,  a +150 home dog, beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1. The San Diego Padres, at home against the Chicago Cubs, were priced at +165, hung on to win in extra innings, 9-8. And the Toronto Blue Jays were +140 against the Boston Red Sox, and also won, 4-3.

A  black-chip ($100) bettor with that five-team parlay would have netted $10,028.30. Toss the Detroit Tigers on at +280, and that ticket is now worth $38,387.54.

We mention that because Major League Baseball, for the time, is pretty much the only game around the middle of the week.

It’s also worth noting that while excited bettors are eager to jump on the college football and NFL bandwagon, there are months worth of data and statistics on baseball right there for study and analysis.

By Thursday, however, football was back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Carolina Panthers. The line closed at Panthers -6.5 in most spots, and the total was generally around 48 by kickoff. An oddsmaker on afternoon radio said most money was on Carolina, and his shop would probably need Tampa Bay. Wish granted: Tampa Bay 20, Carolina 14. And a nice payday for Buccaneers money-line bettors who cashed tickets as high as +260.

We were out and about early on Saturday. We visited one of the local race and sports books, and there was another big crowd with the VIP section nearly fully occupied. Several college football games were underway, and we had to shout at the ticket writer to make our voice heard. (“No. 136, Central Florida.”)

It turned out to be a credible day for UNLV football. The local team trailed the Northwestern Wildcats by only 16-14 at halftime. Coach Tony Sanchez offered praise for oft-maligned quarterback Armani Rogers. True, the Rebels failed to score in the second half. But the final score of Northwestern 30, UNLV 14, was a cover for the local team, which was +18.5 at kickoff.

What’s next?

— The Washington Mystics will host the Las Vegas Aces in the first of a five-game semifinals series on Tuesday.

— UNLV football will travel to play the Wyoming Cowboys on Sept. 28.

— The Vegas Golden Knights will travel to play the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.