Monday Morning Gambler: Plenty Of Bets And Props Available For Raiders On MNF
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By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
There’s still time.
As of this post, there’s still several hours before the Las Vegas Raiders, formerly the Oakland “Just win baby” Raiders, take on the Baltimore Ravens in the widely anticipated 2021 premiere of Monday Night Football.
Are you ready for some point spreads?
The line has come down from Raiders +5 or 5.5 to Raiders +4 at many locations. The total is hovering around 50.5. The halftime line is generally Raiders +3 with the total at 24.5.
If you like the Raiders to win outright, the money line generally is around +115 with the Ravens at -145.
But wait, there’s more.
At Station Casinos, you can get the Raiders at +7.5 if you don’t mind laying -170. Ravens are +140 at that point spread. Like the Raiders to win at -1.5? That’s +190 for the Raiders and -240 for the Ravens.
If you want to play a higher total at 55.5, over is +145 and under -180.
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How about a total of 47.5? Over would be -165 and under would earn +135.
First score of the game a field goal or safety? That’s +155 with a touchdown at -190.
How about total touchdowns at 5.5? Over is -125 and under -105. Total field goals at 3.5 with the over is -115 and under -115.
If you like the Raiders to score first and trigger a wild celebration at Allegiant Stadium and also launch a frenzy on Twitter, it will pay +115. Ravens are -145.
You won’t find it on any betting apps, but we’d price the probability of a MNF close-up shot of Raiders coach Jon Gruden looking disgusted after a defensive miscue at about -1000.
Regardless, kickoff is schedule for 5:15 p.m.
Elsewhere:
— Dogs have their day: All you need to know about the opening week of the NFL besides the rowdy crowds in the race and sports book and deafening cheers on big plays is that favorites were 4-11 ATS. That was highlighted by the Detroit Lions’ backdoor cover after trailing, 41-17, and eventually pulling within 41-33 to cover +9.5. The only favorites to cover were the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams. Will that stop the rush to the counter to bet the NFL next week? We’ll go out on a limb and say, “Nope.”
— Hanging in there: The UNLV Rebels hung tough with Arizona State on Saturday night. At halftime, the Rebels were playing tenacious defense and down only, 14-10, easily covering the first half line of +21. UNLV’s offense sputtered in the second half and failed to score after starting QB Doug Brumfield was lost to injury and the Sun Devils finally put away the Rebels, 37-10. But that also was a cover at the closing line of +34. If the Westgate Las Vegas’s unofficial mantra of “Good teams win, great teams cover,” were true, Arizona State was the good team on Saturday night and UNLV was the great team.
Next up for UNLV: Iowa State, now ranked No. 14, invades Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night. The Cyclones are currently -30 with the total at 52.
— Follow the money: The Las Vegas Aces opened at -3 vs. the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday in a game televised and analyzed on ESPN2. The line moved to -4 before tipoff. After the first quarter ended tied at 27, it was all Aces in a runaway 102-81 victory. The total easily blew past 167.5.
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The Aces are -10.5 vs. the Dallas Wings at noon Monday, just a few hours before the Monday Night Football kickoff. The total is 164.5.
— Fading the pinstripes: If you were up early on Labor Day to bet the Toronto Blue Jays at about +125, you were handsomely rewarded. The Jays won, 8-0. And if you followed that up with a bet against the Bronx Bombers and Gerrit Cole the next day, you got an even better price, around +210. The Jays won again. In fact, the Jays were ‘dogs again for the final two games of the series at Yankee Stadium — and won both times.
The last time the Yankees were swept at home in a four-game series was 2003, according to ESPN, and the last time they never led in a four-game series goes waaaay back a series with the Washington Senators in the 1920s, the New York Post reported. In fact, the Yankees were again favored in the opening game of the Subway Series the next day and lost for the fifth straight time. They finally returned to the win column — as a slight favorite — on Saturday with a 8-7 win over the Mets. However they were underdogs on Sunday Night Baseball and again lost to the Mets, 7-6.
— Favorites sputter: Betting the heavy favorites in college football’s Top Five teams could have been hazardous to your bankroll over the weekend. No. 1 Alabama failed to cover -54.5 in a 48-14 win over Mercer. (Mercer is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia, and an enrollment of less than 9,000 students, and the Bears probably never will be known for their football prowess. Nor, probably, will they care.)
No. 2 Georgia did deliver the goods with a 56-7 shellacking of UAB, covering -23 handily. No. 3 Ohio State, -15, was upset by Oregon at Columbus, Ohio, 35-28, and slid to No. 11 in the latest poll. No. 4 Oklahoma, a 52.5-point favorite vs. Western Carolina, rolled to a 76-0 victory over the Catamounts. But No. 5 Texas A&M, -17.5 vs. Colorado, needed a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to win, 10-7.
Laugher of the week: Houston, -7 vs. Rice, scored early and often against the Owls on their way to a 44-7 rout. That was a cover by 29.5 points and easily one of the laughers of the week. If you had a ticket on the Cougars, you can buy the next round.
