Want to make your favorite Las Vegas bookie squirm? Tell him you have seen the parade route for the Golden Knights after they win the Stanley Cup.
Betting
Narrowing the field to a manageable number of horses that you can return to when post positions are drawn for the Run for the Roses on Tuesday will give you an edge over handicappers who are grappling with a 20-horse field.
Handicapper Dana Lane sees the series going seven games, but with apologies to Knights fans, predicts the Sharks will prevail in a Game 7 at T-Mobile Arena.
Las Vegas oddsmakers, taking action on the NFL draft for the second consecutive year, opened the total number of quarterbacks to be drafted in the first round at 5 (minus 110) and the price has since climbed to minus 145.
An insider told me that the NFL already is considering locations in Las Vegas for its draft. The Raiders’ new stadium is the obvious choice, but there is one location that screams Las Vegas — an upgraded Fremont Street.
If the Supreme Court strikes down PASPA as unconstitutional, New Jersey is expected to start taking sports wagers almost immediately, and at least 20 other states are poised to take bets during the 2018 football season.
Speed figures are a great tool, but they are not a reliable crutch when it comes to deciphering a race as complicated and unique as the Run for the Roses.
Golden State, which will be without Steph Curry in the first round, is a 6-5 favorite to win its third NBA title in four years, and the Rockets are the 13-10 second choice after opening at 30-1 before the season.
An interested spectator at the Golden Knights’ NHL playoff debut Wednesday was Raiders owner Mark Davis, whose NFL franchise will be moving to Las Vegas in 2020.
The last two prep races for the Run for the Roses – the Arkansas Derby and Lexington Stakes – will be run on Saturday, leaving handicappers a mere three weeks to make sense of what has been an exhilarating run up to the main event.
Handicapper Dana Lane, who went 69-43-3 ATS (61.6 percent) making the Review-Journal’s daily Power Play pick, likes the Knights to beat the Kings in six games.
Patrick Reed, aka “Captain America” for his Ryder Cup prowess, opened at 60-1 odds to win a green jacket and closed at 40-1.
A big round of applause for owner Bill Foley and the Golden Knights organization as they begin their quest for the Stanley Cup, which they are 6-1 to win. That’s a long way from 200-1 last fall.
Jordan Spieth is a 9-4 favorite at adjusted odds after opening at 2-1 at the Westgate to win his second green jacket, and Rory McIlroy is the 4-1 second choice after opening at 5-1.
If we didn’t see the Kentucky Derby winner last week, then we almost certainly will on Saturday when the Wood Memorial, the Blue Grass Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby lure most of the top guns for the Run for the Roses.