Monday Morning Gambler: Surprising Runnin’ Rebels Are Cashing Tickets For Bettors
By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
If cashing betting tickets on Las Vegas teams appeals to you, you probably have picked up on a trend. The unlikely UNLV Runnin’ Rebels are on a run and have won three of their last four games and covered four straight.
Their latest victim was the Colorado State Rams, who fell on Saturday to UNLV 72-51, The Rebels were 4.5-point home underdogs in the win. UNLV shot 45 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from beyond the arc. They also out-rebounded the Rams, 45-24.
Coach Kevin Kruger after the game: “This is probably the first time we’ve been healthy since maybe June. This is what we hoped and planned for our identity to be, which is defense.”
The Rebels may have rewarded bettors, but fans are still scarce. Only about 6,000 turned out for the game despite a blitz of promotions from UNLV officials.
Next up is the Nevada-Reno Wolf Pack, in a road game at Reno on Tuesday night. A very early line for the game has the Rebels, now 16-11 and 12-14 ATS, at -1 with the total at 147.5.
Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights, who routinely draw about three times the number of fans to T-Mobile Arena, got back in the win column late Sunday with a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. The victory snapped a three-game VGK losing streak that left traces of tarnish on the boys’ gold-toned helmets. The VGK were a relatively cheap -155 for the game and improved to 17-1-3 all-time in regular-season games against the Sharks.
Coach Peter DeBoer after the game: “I liked a lot of our five-on-five play. I thought we defended much better than we did the other night, which is where it starts for us.”
The Golden Knights are next at the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night, then have a home date the next day with the Colorado Avalanche.
Elsewhere:
— Who’s going to play ball? Opening Day for the Las Vegas Aviators is April 5, when they host the Reno Aces for the first of six games at the Las Vegas Ballpark. We’ll speculate and say the line for that game will be something like Aviators -120 with the total at 12.5. Considering the shaky status of Major League Baseball’s officials and talks with the players association, we make the prospects for Triple A Ball this spring a 3-to-1 favorite vs. the likelihood of Major League action. But you probably won’t find that betting line in your local race and sports book.
— Clash coming in UFC 272: Former interim welterweight champion and former title challenger Jorge Masvidal is slated to fight Colby Covington in a five-round main event in UFC 272 at T-Mobile Arena. Both fighters are considered at the pinnacle of the welterweight division, according to Vegas Insider. The website noted that Covington is around -400 and Masvidal +300 for the March 5 bout.
— Oh the madness: To no one’s surprise Gonzaga has been tapped as the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Auburn, Arizona and Kansas round out the No. 1 seeds in a bracket preview released Saturday.
In the futures market, however, Gonzaga is generally around +400, Kentucky is +800, Arizona +800 and Auburn generally +1000. Kansas is further down around at +1400 to win it all.
“This could all change with this weekend’s results, let alone with what transpires over the next three weeks,” selection committee chair Tom Burnett told ESPN after Saturday’s announcement. “There’s a lot of basketball still to be played.”
Tell that to the bubble teams. Selection Sunday is March 13.
— Long way to NFL opening day: The NFL season won’t officially kick off until Sept. 8 — after a slew of preseason games, some in sweltering summer temperatures. But the Las Vegas Raiders seem to have settled in about +5000 to win Super Bowl 57.
— Laugher of the week: Nevada-Reno performed well from a betting perspective on Thursday. The Wolf Pack, laying -8.5 vs. San Jose State, won both halves of the game decisively en route to a 90-60 thumping of the Spartans. If you’re scoring at home, that’s a cover by 21.5 points. Sadly, not every game is that easy.
