It’s a very old term in betting parlance, “the chalk,†dating to the days when horse racing was a big deal nationally. In an era way before computerization and electronic tote boards, odds were posted on chalk boards. The numbers on the favorites frequently were updated by somebody who’d erase the old prices and write down the revised ones — in chalk. While the spectacle of watching a guy with a piece of white limestone and a rag in hand attacking a piece of slate have gone the way of phone books — chalk it up to progress — the term has survived to reference a betting favorite, often a substantial one. And there certainly is one of those in this year’s Final Four of the men’s NCAA Tournament. Defending champion Connecticut not only is a double-digit choice to win its semifinal game, against Alabama on Saturday night in Glendale, Ariz., but the Huskies are odds-on favorite to win the title. As of Friday afternoon UConn was an 11½-point favorite over ’Bama in all three of the walk-in legal sportsbooks in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area — Argosy (casino in Alton), FanDuel (Fairmount Park horse track in Collinsville) and DraftKings (Casino Queen in East ºüÀêÊÓƵ). Think that line is a bit steep? Well, the Huskies have won all 10 of their NCAA tourney games over the last two seasons, covering the point spread each time and winning by an average of more than 23 points and never less than 13. In their last game they unleased a 30-0 scoring run en route to blasting Illinois by 25 points, and the Illini were not exactly a pushover — they were the Big Ten Conference’s runner up in the regular season. According to Marc Lawrence of , UConn is 9-0 overall and 8-1 against the spread in its last NCAA tourney outings against a Southeastern Conference foe such as Alabama. “It’s like the Dave Clark 5 sang in their smash hit in 1966, ‘Catch Us If You Can,’ “ Lawrence wrote. The area books also had the Huskies as a heavy favorite to win it all, with the stiffest number at Argosy. It was -230 there, meaning a $230 risk is required to try to make a profit of $100. FanDuel had the lightest price, -185. UConn is one of two No. 1 seeds in the Final Four, along with Purdue. Alabama is a No. 4 and North Carolina State, Purdue’s foe Saturday, is the only big longshot to make it. The Wolfpack are a No. 11 seed.Last year, the Final Four consisted of a No. 4 seed (Connecticut), two 5s (Miami, San Diego State) and a 9 (Florida Atlantic).
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This year’s women’s NCAA Tournament also has featured a heavy favorite, South Carolina. Heading into its semifinal contest Friday night, Argosy had the Gamecocks at -215. FanDuel was at -210 and DraftKings was at -195.
Blues snooze?
The sportsbooks have just about given up on the Blues.
Two weeks ago they were big longshots to make the playoffs, with DraftKings offering 8½-1 odds on them getting in to the Stanley Cup tournament but requiring a risk of $1,600 to try to make a $100 profit on bets for them failing to qualify. Argosy was not offering those types of wagers and FanDuel only posted odds on them getting in (7½-1).
By Thursday afternoon, with the season dwindling and the Blues not having made up much ground, the team’s chances had become so grim that DraftKings was requiring its customers who were betting that the team would not qualify to put up $30 to try to win a meager $1. But it was offering only a 13-1 return on wagers for them to advance.
Then that night the Blues lost to Nashville and Los Angeles beat San Jose to give the Kings a seven-point lead in the race for the final Western Conference wild-card slot with only six games remaining for both clubs, and as of Friday afternoon DraftKings was not taking Blues make-or-miss-the-playoffs bets. Argosy did not have prices on them either, and FanDuel only was offering odds on them getting in (15-1).
Battlehawks favored
The Battlehawks not only failed to cover the point spread last week in their United Football League debut, they lost straight-up to Michigan on a 64-yard last-minute field goal.
The B-Hawks were favored by 6½ or 7 points in that one, depending on the book, and are favored again this week for their home opener. FanDuel and DraftKings had them as a 5-point choice on Friday afternoon, while Argosy was at 4½, for their contest Saturday night against Arlington — last year’s champion of the XFL, in which the Battlehawks also competed.
DraftKings had the over/under (number of points the teams combined to score) at 41, while the other two local shops were at 40½. Last week all four UFL opening-weekend games went under the betting total. In fact, only one game had more than 39 points scored, and it did not exceed that figure by much: Brimingham 27, Arlington 14.
Meanwhile, City SC is favored in its MLS match at home Saturday night against FC Dallas. As of Friday afternoon the best price on City to win among the area books was at Argosy. The club was -121 on the three-way line, which includes the option of the match ending in a draw in addition to picking either team to win.
Drop the prop
NCAA president Charlie Baker recently urged states that have legalized sports betting to ban proposition wagers on college athletes, bets based on how players perform statistically.
So-called “prop bets†center on categories such as a basketball player scoring more or less than a designated number of points, a football player rushing for more or less than a posted number of yards, etc.
Baker said those type of wagers are “continuing to threaten the integrity of competition and leading to student-athletes getting harassed.â€
Louisiana gambling regulators agreed, this week outlawing them beginning in August — just before the start of the college football season. It has been reported that in 2022 Louisiana State wide receiver Kayshon Boutte bet on himself in a game against Florida State.
In a statement, Louisiana Gaming Control Board chairman Ronnie S. Johns said betting will still be permitted, just not wagers on individual player performances.
“Only proposition bets based on full team statistical results are permitted,†the statement said, meaning wagers on categories such as an over/under for how many points the LSU football team will score in a game are allowed.
Prop bets on professional players will remain legal in Louisiana.