By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
You really want to bet on the white-hot Vegas Golden Knights?
You’re gonna pay the price.
The first-round series price vs. the Minnesota Wild was perhaps not unreasonable, -250 although the Wild pushed the VGK to seven games.
The Golden Knights were actually underdogs vs. the No. 1 seed Colorado Avalanche in the second round. Bettors could catch an attractive series price at anywhere from the +170 to +180 range. And after the opening game loss, the price jumped to +335. You have to figure an adjusted series price after the second loss was in the +500 to +600 range.
Of course, the Knights won the next four games to advance to the Stanley Cup Semifinal.
But if there’s cash torching a hole in your front pocket and you really, really want to bet on the Vegas Golden Knights in the series vs. the Montreal Canadiens, get ready: After opening at -500 at Station Casinos, the price quickly rose to -550. As of this post, the price is still -550.
Vegas Insider now makes the Golden Knights favorites to win the Cup at +110, followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders at +300 and the Canadiens at +1000. (A 4-year-old Vegas franchise heavily favored over a Canadian team to win pro hockey’s most coveted prize? Welcome to 2021.)
As for Game 1 vs. the Canadiens on Monday, the Golden Knights are generally around -270 or -280. You can find them around even money or +105 on the puck line.
Coach Peter DeBoer is saying all the right things prior to the puck drop at 6:08 p.m. on Monday.
“You’re foolish if you look at their record and make a judgment,” the Vegas coach told NHL.com.
Of the 15 writers and editors at the web site, only one picks the Canadiens to oust the Golden Knights.
But if like to look at simulations, CBS SportsLine predicts Vegas 3, Montreal 2.4 in Game 1 and makes Montreal on the puck line an “A”-rated play.
Elsewhere:
— Back in action: Las Vegas Aces, coming off an eight-day layoff, were -8.5 on Sunday vs. the Dallas Wings with the total at 170. They won, 85-78, on the strength of a 25-20 fourth quarter, but the cover went to the Wings. A’ja Wilson had 28 points in the victory. The Aces (8-3) next host the New York Liberty (5-4) on Tuesday.
— UFC 263 and beyond: If you made the 4.5-hour drive from Las Vegas to the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday night for UFC 263 or tuned in on pay-per-view, you got to to see an animated Israel Adesanya win by unanimous decision over Marvin Vettori. Adesanya was generally around -275. Vettori had been about +210 on the buyback. Over 4.5 rounds was -135 or -140. Eleven of the 14 fights went to a decision, MMA Junkie reported. Betting favorites went 8-6, the website also noted.
UFC 264 will return to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 10 for what will likely be a maximum capacity crowd. Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will meet in the octagon for their third fight. Both are currently -110.
— Jon Rahm has the shortest odds for the U.S. Open, which gets underway Thursday from Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego. Rahm is +950, according to Vegas Insider. Las Vegan Collin Morikawa is +1900.
— Laugher of the week: If you played the total under on the Game 3 of the Brooklyn Nets at the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, you enjoyed an easy win. Oddsmakers put the total at 234, but the final score was Milwaukee 86, Brooklyn 83. With only 169 points on the scoreboard, the total came in under by 65 points — often around the number of points scored in an entire NBA quarter. The total came down to 228 for Game 4 on Sunday but still came in under the total easily, with the Bucks winning 107-96.
The Nets still have shortest odds to win the NBA title at around +250. The Atlanta Hawks are about +10000.
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