Las Vegas sportsbooks rooting for Bruins despite split action
Las Vegas sportsbooks are seeing a pretty even split of the action on Wednesday night’s Game 7 in Boston between the Bruins and St. Louis Blues.
That doesn’t mean oddsmakers won’t have a rooting interest in the outcome of the Stanley Cup Final.
“If the Bruins win tonight, we’re going to make some good money,” Golden Nugget sports book director Tony Miller said. “If they lose, we’re going to get beat up.”
The Golden Nugget, like several other books around town, is facing a great deal of liability on the Blues in the futures market.
Some bettors got St. Louis as high as 300-1 during the season when the Blues were sitting in last place.
It would seem logical to try to mitigate some of that potential damage by dropping the number on the Bruins to invite action, but Miller said that generally isn’t his philosophy.
The Golden Nugget currently has the Bruins posted as a minus-170 favorite. The total is 5.5 with the under priced as a significant favorite at minus-155. Other properties have the total at 5 with a heavy shade to the over.
William Hill, which also has liability on the Blues, has Boston at minus-180. As of Wednesday afternoon, 59 percent of the money-line tickets are on the Blues with 64 percent of the money on Boston.
Puck line tickets and money are both over 90 percent on the Bruins, a trend seen around town.
“As far as money-line ticket count and money goes, we’re split right down the middle,” Miller said. “We’re getting good two-way action.
“We are a little heavy on Bruins puck line. (We took) nothing on the Blues plus-1.5. That’s the only liability for the game right now.”
Miller said he expects money to come in during the hour before the game starts and believes much of it will be on the home favorite.
Most book directors will be cheering for the Bruins tonight, though maybe not for all of their players.
David Backes has drawn 27 percent of the total money wagered on which player will score first at William Hill, returning a hefty 40-1 price.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
