By Dan Behringer of LVSportsBiz.com
When Didi Gregorious of the New York Yankees drove a ball deep to right field in the bottom of the fifth inning, there was a collective gasp from the group.
“Get out!” someone hollered.
It didn’t get out, it stayed in.
Barely.
Josh Reddick drifted back and caught the ball hit by Gregorious at the fence much to the chagrin of Yankees fans and bettors.
The Houston Astros went on to win that Game 3 of the ALCS, 4-1, and bettors on the Yankees at around +140 had tickets as worthless as soggy cocktail napkins. We happened to be among the group near the race and sports book on Tuesday and heard the buzz. We also glanced at a mobile app and noticed the in-game betting line on the Yankees, who were trailing 2-0, was an enticing +293. We were tempted but passed.
In addition to preserving the Astros’ lead, the long fly out preserved Astros bets on the five-inning line at around -170 and the total “under” for the first five innings.
But it was close. A few feet close.
Major league baseball, even October baseball, doesn’t create the thunderous excitement that college football or the NFL does. With baseball, there’s a buzz in the book, mostly from the older crowd. With football, the sound is deafening, a tidal wave of exultation or despair that renders normal conversation inaudible. And there is almost certainly a correlation between enthusiasm in the book and the amount of money forked over at the window.
While baseball did create a stir on Tuesday with the Astros-Yankees game and the Washington Nationals closing out the St. Louis Cardinals to win the NLCS, hockey was also on the board along with NBA preseason games.
The Nashville Predators, +120, knocked off the Golden Knights, 5-2, despite a throng of 18,188 people at T-Mobile Arena. A third period goal from the Predators helped the total slide “over” 6.5. There may have been some value in Nashville, which had won four of its last five games against Vegas, according to The Associated Press. But for the record, based on a tip from a friend who overhead another friend who knows a semi-reliable tout, we had the Carolina Hurricanes both on the money line and the puck line. And we considered ourselves fortunate when the Hurricanes scored their final goal with seconds remaining in the final period to defeat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-0.
The noise level was fairly muted in the race book late Thursday afternoon as events unfolded almost simultaneously on the oversize monitors. There was Game 4 between the Yankees and the Astros, Thursday Night Football with the Kansas City Chiefs at the Denver Broncos and two college football games. If you looked just a little, there was preseason NBA action too.
There were scattered cheers as the Astros-Yankees game got underway but the enthusiasm faded as the underdog Astros hammered Yankee pitching and eventually won, 8-3. NFL fans were by the most exuberant as the Chiefs, who closed at -3, rolled to a 30-6 win. The college games seemed to elicit less reaction despite their presence on the over-size monitors. We didn’t stay for the later start of the Ottawa Senators-Golden Knights game, but you can safely assume there was the usually enthusiastic cheers for the local team. Bettors who paid as much as -340 for the VGK likely just breathed sighs of relief when the Golden Knights won a shootout, 3-2.
For the record, we were on the Yankees at -135 along with most sharps, would-be sharps, tipsters, squares and casual bettors who thought the Pinstripes would even the series at two games each. And we passed up what looked like a fairly easy “under” on the UL Lafayette-Arksansas State game, which ended with the Ragin’ Cajuns winning, 37-20, on an inflated total of 69.
We ventured out to Las Vegas Boulevard on Saturday. Like the local joints, it’s SRO in the race and sports book on college football and NFL game days with highly vocal fans and harried cocktail servers toting plastic tubs of Budweisers. The day’s highlights included Illinois, a +30.5 underdog, knocking off Wisconsin, 24-23, and paying money line bettors as much as +2200 (that’s a lot of Budweisers).
Later in the afternoon, the Golden Knights blanked the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0, much to the delight of anybody with a ticket on the VGK at about -130 and several thousand fans gathered in the autumn sunshine at the Las Vegas Ballpark for a watch party.
And the evening concluded with the Houston Astros, at -118, beating the New York Yankees, 6-4, with Jose Altuve delivering a dramatic walk-off home about 70 times the length of his 5-foot-6 frame in the bottom of the ninth. The win earned the Astros a berth in the World Series. Bettors playing “under” 9 were at least slightly shell-shocked by four runs scored in the ninth inning.
You had to ask: We tore up our ticket on the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who went off at -5 vs. the Baylor Bears and lost outright, 45-27. But we got most of our money back and enough to buy a Budweiser or two when the Minnesota Golden Gophers, at -29.5, drilled the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 42-7.
And no, we didn’t overlook the UNLV Rebels on Friday night. Fresh off an upset of Vanderbilt, the Rebels ran into the Fresno State Bulldogs, who dented the Rebels’ postseason hopes, with a 56-24 win, handily covering -15.5.
It was another Sunday in the NFL with favorites going 7-5 ATS, and totals roughly split as well. And in the interest of full disclosure, we didn’t have a financial stake in any of the games. Rather, we found a spot away from the crowds and the noise and just enjoyed the quiet.
What’s next:
— Monday Night Football gives NFL bettors one more chance to enhance or recover from the weekend. The New England Patriots are -9 vs. the New York Jets with the total at 43.5.
— The World Series underway Tuesday with the Astros around -210 for the series and the Nationals +175. Astros are -200 for Game 1, Nats +180.
— The NBA’s regular season kicks off Tuesday with a TNT double-header. In the late game, the Los Angeles Lakers are -2 vs. the Los Angeles Clippers with the total at 227.
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