Heavy action on Stanley Cup opener passes Rockets-Warriors Game 7

Golden Knights betting is at a fever pitch heading into the opener of the Stanley Cup Final against the Washington Capitals on Monday at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas ranges from a minus 150 to a minus 165 favorite over Washington (plus 130 to plus 145) at Las Vegas sports books in Game 1.

As of early Monday afternoon, before the bulk of the action was expected to hit the books, Boyd Gaming sports book director Bob Scucci said the matchup had already generated the largest amount of money wagered on a Knights game all season.

“The money is just tremendous. It’s bigger than (Monday’s) basketball game (between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors),” Scucci said. “If you were to tell me Game 1 of the Stanley Cup vs. Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals, which one would be higher, I would’ve never said it would be the hockey game.”

The Warriors-Rockets showdown had a larger handle than Knights-Capitals at the Westgate sports book early Monday afternoon, but that was only because of one big bet on the basketball game, according to Westgate sports book manager Ed Salmons.

“This Knights game will get a ton of write tonight,” Salmons said. “Most of the money will be bet between 2 p.m. and the 5 p.m. game time.”

The Knights led in ticket count, 151-59, at the Westgate as of early Monday afternoon.

Vegas was holding steady as a minus 150 favorite at the Wynn Las Vegas and CG Technology sports books, while Boyd Gaming moved the Knights to minus 165 favorites.

“We opened a little higher than other places, so some of our initial bets were on the Capitals, mostly by professional bettors,” Scucci said. “The public came in overwhelmingly on the Knights since then. The ticket count is 4-1 on the Knights.

“Even with taking a lot of big bets from sharp guys on the other side, that doesn’t offset the public money coming in on the Golden Knights.”

Boyd Gaming and the Westgate intentionally opened the Knights on the high side on the series price to try to attract Capitals money to reduce their six-figure liabilities on Vegas to win the Stanley Cup.

The Knights are minus 155 to win the series, and Washington is plus 130 at Boyd Gaming and plus 135 at the Westgate.

“We’re a little heavy on the Capitals in terms of money, but the ticket count is 2-1 for the Knights (in the series),” Scucci said. “A lot of people who had the Knights at 50-1 or 100-1 to win the Stanley Cup are hedging a little and might throw a little on the Capitals.”

The total on Game 1 is 5½ goals (Under minus 125). Scucci said the action is pretty even. Salmons said he expects more action on the over.

“They always bet the over,” he said.

The betting public also is backing the Knights on the puck line (-1½) at plus 175.

“If the Knights even win the game by one goal, we’ll still win on it,” Salmons said. “We only get burned if the Knights win by two or more.”

The Westgate also has taken some decent action on their Stanley Cup props, with the odds on the player to score the first goal the most popular wager.

“People like to take a shot on that at really long odds,” Salmons said. “The most money on any player is on (Vegas defenseman) Nate Schmidt. We opened him at 60-1 and now we’re at 40-1.

“I don’t know why they like him, maybe because he used to play for the Capitals.”

Like most of the city, Scucci is still astonished that the expansion Knights are playing for the Stanley Cup.

“It’s unbelievable. I’ve been in bookmaking for three decades, and in one year, we have two major sports franchises coming to the city, one of them is going to the finals, and they repealed the federal ban on sports betting,” he said. “All in the same year. The odds on that couldn’t be high enough.”

More betting: Follow all of our sports betting coverage online at reviewjournal.com/betting and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.