The Golden Knights are minus 150 favorites over the Washington Capitals (plus 130) in the Stanley Cup Final. Here’s a survey of opinions from Review-Journal staff members, other media, oddsmakers and professional bettors and handicappers.
Todd Dewey
Reporter: Sports betting
Email: tdewey@reviewjournal.com
X: @tdewey33
Todd Dewey covers sports betting for the Review-Journal. Prior to taking over that beat in January 2017, he covered UNLV football, 51s baseball and a wide range of other events that come to Las Vegas. A native of Cambridge, Mass., and a graduate of the University of Central Florida, Dewey joined the Review-Journal in 1999 and was the 2013 Nevada Sportswriter of the Year.
It’s well-documented that the biggest key to success in the Stanley Cup playoffs is having a hot goalie and Vegas netminder Marc-Andre Fleury is sizzling.
Hermin Soriano, a food server at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, was ridiculed when he showed his co-workers his futures wagers on the Golden Knights.
Nevada sports books will lose an estimated $5 million to $7 million if the expansion Golden Knights cap their improbable inaugural season by winning the Stanley Cup.
Each limit bet of $1,000 moved the line between ½-point and 2 points and when the action settled at the South Point sports books, there were eight college football line moves of at least four points.
Las Vegas oddsmakers project the Tampa Bay Lightning to be a minus 150 favorite over the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final and the Knights to be minus 140 favorites over the Washington Capitals.
The Golden Knights are underdogs in Game 5 ranging from plus 120 to plus 135.
The Golden Knights opened as high as minus 135 favorites, but were down to as low as minus 115 on Friday afternoon at the Westgate sports book.
While road teams have a winning record in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Golden Knights are 5-1 at home, where they’ve outscored opponents 22-10 while winning three games by at least two goals.
While Nevada’s sports betting handle has skyrocketed from $2.6 billion in 2007 to $4.8 billion in 2017, the state’s racing handle has plummeted from $596.5 million in 2007 to $280.4 million in 2017.
Notable futures bets on the WNBA’s Aces at the Westgate sports book include a $200 wager at 100-1 to win $20,000, $200 at 50-1 to win $10,000 and $400 at 30-1 to win $12,000.
The Knights are minus 130 favorites over the Jets in Game 3 at the Westgate, Boyd Gaming, CG Technology and Stratosphere sports books and they’re as high as plus 230 on the puck line.
The Golden Knights, 9-3 in the playoffs and 4-1 at home, are favorites ranging from minus 135 to minus 145 over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 at Las Vegas sports books.
Nationwide sports wagering is on its way. You can take that to the bank. But what that means for Nevada’s legal sportsbooks is still debatable.
At first glance, it might appear that the Golden Nugget sports book pulled a Paddy Power in paying out bets early on the Golden State Warriors to win the Western Conference before their series started Monday against the Houston Rockets.