On Sports Betting: Las Vegas Aces Keep Playoff Hopes Alive — And Cover For Bettors

If you woke up early Sunday morning with a burning desire to bet on the NFL, you had tantalizing choices.

Sure, there were the regularly scheduled NFL games and the posted odds. But at least at one local race and sports book, there were also special point spreads for two games. At Red Rock Resort, you could get the New York Jets at +30.5 at -330 or play the New England Patriots at -30.5 at +250. You could also bet the Miami Dolphins at +30.5 at -330 or the Dallas Cowboys -30.5 at +250.

But if you decided to lay the added points with the favorites, you should have stayed in bed. The Patriots won, but only 30-14. The Cowboys also won, by a mere 31-6 margin.

Welcome to the weekend in Las Vegas.

In fact, it was another Sunday crammed with sports-betting possibilities. In addition to the NFL, there was Game 3 of the Las Vegas Aces best-of-five semifinal WNBA series with the Washington Mystics. Down 2-0 in the series, the Aces answered with a strong performance, winning, 92-75. They also covered -3.5, and the total came in under 181.5.

And that, of course, followed a full Saturday of college football (and Week 15 of the Canadian Football League if you were so inclined. Eh?)

If you tried your luck Saturday betting the top five ranked college football teams, you generally fared well:

— No. 1 Clemson beat UNC Charlotte, 52-10, covering -41.5 by the slimmest of margins.

— No. 2 Alabama beat Southern Mississippi, 49-7, covering -38.

— No. 3 Georgia hung on to beat Notre Dame, 16-10, but the Irish covered a line that soared to +16.

— No. 4 LSU throttled Vanderbilt, 64-38, and laying -24, eked out a cover.

— No. 5 Oklahoma was idle.

(If you wanted to add No. 6 Ohio State to the list, the Buckeyes managed to overcome an early 5-0 deficit to beat the Miami RedHawks, 76-5. And yes, they covered -39.)

Wedged among college football, Major League baseball, NASCAR and more on Saturday, the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks, 3-1. It was a prime opportunity to double your money — the Knights were even money on the road at San Jose. The total came in “under” 6.

But let’s revisit an earlier part of the week when the Aces began their five-game WNBA series vs. the Mystics on Tuesday with the Mystics as 10-point home favorites. When the buzzer sounded, it was the Mystics 97, Aces 95. There were pleas from Aces’ coach Bill Laimbeer, who insisted he called a time-out that was not granted. There were questions about whether or not Kelsey Plum was fouled as she fired off an errant final-seconds shot.

Regardless, the final score stood. Though Aces bettors, getting +10, still held winning tickets. “Over” the total of 174 was also an easy winner.

In fact, Tuesday was a very good day for betting on Las Vegas teams.

The Vegas Golden Knights, anywhere from even money to +105, beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-0. With a total at 6, the “under” tickets were winners.

We were out and about on Wednesday and noticed an interesting number on the betting board. The Houston Astros, with Gerrit Cole the listed pitcher, were a -500 favorite over the Texas Rangers. When we see a number like that, we often look to the other side. In this case, we saw the Rangers as high as +200 on the run line. We didn’t make a play. But for the record, Houston won, 3-2.

More unusual lines are possible in baseball’s waning days as some teams shoot to improve playoff positioning while teams out of contention play out the string.

So what’s next?

— The UNLV Rebels football team returns to action Saturday night. They are +9.5 vs. Wyoming with the total at 51.5.

— The Aces’ next playoff game is Tuesday. Expect a line of about -3.5 again with a total around 180.

— The Golden Knights’ next preseason game is Wednesday. They host the Avalanche and will be heavy favorites though 6 seems to be the standing total.

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