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When March Madness went quiet in Las Vegas
When March Madness went quiet in Las Vegas
Sportsbooks went dark on March 19, 2020, during one of the busiest times of the year.
Photo courtesy of Art Manteris
A year ago, Art Manteris was sitting alone in the back of his sportsbook at Red Rock Resort and Casino. He had been booking bets in Las Vegas since the late 1970s, but he had never seen anything like this.
He should ve been in the thick of the madness of the opening Thursday of the NCAA tournament nonstop hoops action on the high-definition, wall-to-wall video screens while a packed house roars and groans with each basket. Instead, Manteris was by himself in the dark. It was quiet, with only the occasional flashing light or ringing sound effect from an unoccupied slot machine that had yet to be turned off.
No basketball bet embodies the excitement and unpredictability of March Madness like the First to 15 prop.
Also known as “Race to” props, which can differ in point range (Race to 20, Race to 30), this unique wager is a favorite among college basketball fans due to its quick-hitting thrills and simplicity: Just pick which team will score 15 points first.
After Round 1, the lower-seeded team has won the First to 15 prop in 19 of the 31 games (with one game being canceled). The higher-seeded team made a big comeback in the Second Round, however, getting there five times in the eight games on Sunday and then in six of the eight on Monday. Detailed results can be found below.
Feb 8, 2021 - 8:43 AM ET
Super Bowl LV betting has come and gone, and leading up to kickoff we tracked the biggest bets on Super Bowl and saw a handful of million-dollar major wagers hit sportsbooks throughout Super Bowl week.
There was a late flurry of big Super Bowl bets. About 3.5 hours before kickoff, William Hill US took a $1.16 million bet on Chiefs moneyline -155 in Las Vegas. Then shortly before kickoff, BetMGM reported a $2.5 million Chiefs moneyline -165 wager, along with a $1 million teaser of Buccaneers +9/Over 50.
Those bets stacked up on a busy Saturday. At Atlantic City s Borgata, a BetMGM book, a customer plunked down $281,000 on Chiefs -3 (-115) Saturday afternoon. A short time later in downtown Las Vegas, hotel-casino owner and betting aficionado Derek Stevens announced that his Circa Sports book took a $500,000 wager on Chiefs moneyline -164, to win $304,878.
With a quarterback who had starred in more TV commercials than playoff wins, the Cleveland Browns were a popular punch line. But if one game can change a storyline, Baker Mayfield is no longer an overhyped underachiever and the butt of jokes.
Mayfield can enjoy a few laughs at the expense of the Steelers, who paid the price for disrespecting an underdog. Mayfield’s three touchdown passes helped Cleveland rock Pittsburgh 48-37 on Sunday in an upset that proved costly for the betting public. The new Browns are not the same old losers.
The NFL’s new-look postseason format did not disappoint. With six games instead of four on an expanded Super Wild Card Weekend, the wagering action was a whirlwind.