Monday Morning Gambler: Bettors Backing Las Vegas Aviators Finally Get To Cash Some Tickets
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By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
If you decided on a whim to bet on the Las Vegas Aviators on opening night, you perhaps could be excused.
After all, the Aviators were coming off a 83-57 season. And opening night (or day) tends to favor home teams. Still that .592 winning percentage season was two long years ago before a pandemic effectively brought minor league baseball to a dirt-in-your-face, sliding halt.
Oddsmakers made the Aviators around a -180 to -190 favorite for the first game against the Sacramento River Cats. But the Aviators managed only four base hits, and the River Cats won, 8-1.
For the second game of the series, the price on the Aviators dropped to about -160. But again, it was the River Cats who prevailed in a 6-4 outcome on a breezy night at the Las Vegas Ballpark. Even with the wind blowing out to center field at 18 mph, the total came in under 12.5. Though this time, the Aviators managed 10 base hits.
Then something interesting happened. Perhaps it was sharp bettors pounding the River Cats. Or Aviators backers who thought they saw an angle, but the line flip-flopped for the third game of the series. In fact, it was the River Cats who were -190 favorites and -130 on the run line with the total still at 12.5 at Station Casinos.
The River Cats appeared to be cruising, with a 10-6 lead in the late innings, when the Aviators scored four times in the bottom of the ninth, all on singles and a throwing error, to send the game to extra innings. They won it, 11-10, in the 10th inning to finally reward Aviators bettors.
On Sunday, the line flip-flopped again. This time, the Aviators were -150 favorites at Station Casinos, and the total was boosted to 14. And one more time, Aviators got to go to the window to cash as the Las Vegas team beat Sacramento, 6-3.
The Aviators have two more games with the River Cats, on Monday and Tuesday, before they head to Reno for six games. Besides Station Casinos, Boyd Gaming and Westgate Las Vegas have also put up betting lines on the Aviators.
Elsewhere:
— Steady is good: The Vegas Golden Knights have been consistently rewarding bettors willing to lay the chalk. Knights bettors willing to lay -220 (or go aggressive at +110 on the puck line) cashed again as the VGK defeated the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 on Saturday night.
Knights bettors have cashed tickets in four out of their last five games at prices from -120 to the -220 price for the Blues game.
Next up is a showdown with West Division arch-rival Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena at 7:08 p.m. Monday. Vegas Insider has the Golden Knights at -110 with the total at 5.5.
And you say you like the Vegas Golden Knights to win it all and bring home the Stanley Cup? Futures odds generally have the Colorado Avalanche at +450, the Vegas Golden Knights at +550 and the Tampa Bay Lightning at +750. (If for some reason, you fancy long shots, the Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks are both about +50,0000.)
— No respect: Western Conference leaders in the NBA continue to get little love in the futures markets. The Utah Jazz, who lead the conference, are +700 to win the NBA title. The Phoenix Suns, who are in second place in the conference, are +1200. Shortest odds still go to the Brooklyn Nets, +240; the Los Angeles Lakers, +500; and the Los Angeles Clippers, also +500, according to Vegas Insider. The NBA playoffs begin May 22.
— Hot and cold: Four American League teams are 7-3 over the last 10 games, but the Kansas City Royals — after a quick start — have lost nine of their last 10. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals are 8-2 in their last 10 while both the payroll-rich Los Angeles Dodgers and the considerably less-well-off Pittsburgh Pirates are 2-8.
— Laugher of the week: If you played the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Los Angeles Angels game over the total of 8 on Saturday, you enjoyed one of the laughers of the week. The Dodgers led 13-0 at the end of five innings and managed to hang on to beat the Angels, 14-11, who made it interesting by scoring seven unearned runs in a two-out, seventh-inning rally.
