Monday Morning Gambler: Gambling World Awaits Super Bowl 56 — and Those Prop Bets
By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
When the tumult in the local race and sports books finally faded late Sunday and the in-game betting apps stopped blinking, only two teams were left — the Los Angeles Rams and the improbable Cincinnati Bengals.
And that is your lineup for Super Bowl 56 on Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, with the Rams favored at -4 and the total at 49. And standby — it won’t be that long before those “War and Peace” length, stapled lists of prop bets are issued.
But if you can’t wait for The Big Game, there’s always the Pro Bowl at noon next Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Watch for a betting line with a fairly high total later in the week. Here’s a photo of the Pro Bowl scene at Las Vegas Ballpark Monday morning.
Elsewhere:
— The bigger they are: Yes, that was the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels who knocked off the top 25-ranked Colorado State Rams on Friday night, 88-74. Senior guard Bryce Hamilton had a career-best 42 points in the wire-to-wire win. The Rebels closed as 14.5-point underdogs, which meant they covered by 28.5 points. If you were bold enough to play UNLV on the money line as high as +700 in some spots, you can buy the next round. And lunch, too.
First-year coach Kevin Kruger: “Couldn’t be more proud of them. They just keep fighting, they keep battling. Their intent and conviction the last few days of prep was what I think showed early.”
The next battle is Tuesday when UNLV (12-9, 7-13 ATS) hosts UNR at the Thomas & Mack Center.
— Back to T-Mobile Arena: The Vegas Golden Knights concluded their four-game western swing on Saturday with a 3-2 win in a shootout over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bettors on the Golden Knights cashed tickets in the +120 range.
VGK coach Pete DeBoer: “Really proud of our group. That’s a hell of a road trip for us.”
For bettors playing the Golden Knights straight up, it was two wins and two losses on the road trip and, notably, three unders vs. one over. On the trip, the Knights scored eight goals vs. opponents’ 10.
We noted an analyst at Covers.com who advised a three-way money line pick on the Florida Panthers vs. the VGK on Thursday. In that bet, the team must win in regulation — but if you’ve read this far, you probably knew that. The bet, in the -130 range, paid off. However, the analyst also liked the total over 6.5, which fell short in the Panthers’ 4-1 win.
Now, it’s back to the rowdy crowds of T-Mobile Arena, where the boys in the gold-toned helmets (26-13) will be heavy chalk vs. the Buffalo Sabres (14-23) on Tuesday.
— 6-1 shot comes in: Josh McDaniels was about +600, behind Jim Harbaugh and interim coach Rich Bisaccia, on the futures market for the Las Vegas Raiders head coaching job. Over the weekend, it was announced that McDaniels had been tapped for the job. Harbaugh was +200 at one point on the Action Network, which cited odds from DraftKings. The latest rumor is that Harbaugh, who currently earns about $4 million a year as head coach at the University of Michigan, is now a candidate for the Minnesota Vikings job. No betting odds, however.
— Masters odds: Jon Rahm is generally the favorite to win the 2022 Masters at +800. Las Vegan Collin Morikawa is not far behind at +1200. If you favor longshots, Tiger Woods is +5000. The first official day of the Masters is April 4.
— Laugher of the week: Unheralded Robert Morris, a +1.5 point underdog vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Thursday, soundly spanked the Panthers, 77-53, covering by 25.5 points in one of the laughers of the week. You can share that with “SportsCenter” host Scott Van Pelt the next time he’s telling “bad beat” stories.
