The Cardinals slogged their way to their worst season in three decades last year, falling monumentally short of the over-under betting line for the number of games they would win.
That figure was 86陆 at many sportsbooks heading into the 2023 season, and those who bet the under were on easy street for months as it became evident early on that this team was not good.
The Redbirds finished at 71-91, falling a massive 15 victories away from going over the season total, while finishing in last place in their division for the first time in 33 years.
The team has done a significant overhauling of its starting pitching staff, but the bookies don鈥檛 seem overly impressed. The betting total for MLB teams鈥 wins for the upcoming season now have been posted and the Cardinals鈥 number is lower than it was last year at all three walk-in legal sportsbooks in the 狐狸视频 area.
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As of Friday afternoon, it stood at 84陆 at Argosy (casino in Alton) and DraftKings (Casino Queen in East 狐狸视频). FanDuel (horse racing track in Collinsville) was at 85陆.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, king of big-money offseason additions, lead the pack in projected victories 鈥 104陆 at FanDuel, 103陆 at Argosy and DraftKings.
The Cardinals were favored last year to win the National League Central Division title, with odds as steep as -130 at FanDuel (meaning a bettor would have had to risk $130 to try to win $100). Those tickets could have been tossed out the window by midseason. But this year, at least in mid-January, there is a difference of opinion among the area shops on the division favorite.
FanDuel has the Cards atop the heap, albeit not nearly as strong a choice as they were last year. As of Friday, they were +150 (a successful $100 bet would reap a profit of $150), with the Chicago Cubs next (+210). Argosy also had the Redbirds as the choice, and with a more attractive price (+175) than at FanDuel. DraftKings, meanwhile, had the Cubbies as the favorite (+175), with the Cardinals following (+200).
As often is the case, it pays to shop around. Someone betting the Birds to roost at the top of the division at season鈥檚 end would make $50 more on a successful $100 bet made at DraftKings than if it was placed at FanDuel.
The Cards鈥 odds to win the National League pennant were 12-1 at Argosy, 15-1 at FanDuel and 16-1 at DraftKings 鈥 again emphasizing the importance of comparison shopping. The Birds鈥 World Series-winning price also fluctuated, from 27-1 at Argosy to 30-1 at the other two houses.
Blues blahs
The Blues have cooled off after a hot start following their coaching change last month, having now lost three games in a row and four of five.
That also has put a damper on the odds of the team making the National Hockey League鈥檚 playoffs. After winning three of their first four games under interim coach Drew Bannister, the team still was a longshot to make the Stanley Cup tournament 鈥 on Dec. 22 a bettor would have had to risk $500 to try to turn a $100 profit on them not qualifying for the postseason field, whereas a successful $100 wager on them getting into the playoffs would have been worth a $380 profit.
But as of Friday, with the Blues sitting sixth in the Western Conference wild-card playoff standings, the price on them not advancing was a whopping -1,100 at FanDuel, -900 at DraftKings. Both had the number on the Blues getting in at +600. (Argosy did not offer this proposition bet).
Split decision
A few weeks ago, a high-stakes Las Vegas gambler made waves by refusing an offer to a partial split of the $9.267 million pot in a football contest run by the Circa sportsbook chain in Nevada, a deal that would have guaranteed the 13 remaining entrants $400,000 each.
Before the NFL season kicked off there were 9,267 entries, at $1,000 each, in the 鈥渟urvivor鈥 contest that required participants to pick the winner of one NFL game in each of the league鈥檚 18-week schedule. The rules were simple 鈥 win and advance to the next week, lose and you鈥檙e out. There were a couple caveats, first that any team can be selected only once, and second that there were two additional periods (surrounding the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday) in which a pick had to be made. That led to 20 selections for those making it to the final week.
Late in the season the field of entries still in the running for the winner-take-all pot had shrunk to 13. Twelve of them reportedly agreed to a proposal that would award each the $400,000, with the winner receiving the remaining sum of a little more than $4 million.
But Sean Perry, a 27-year-old brash Las Vegas high roller, said no dice.
鈥淲ith all respect, I鈥檓 the best bettor in the world,鈥 he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal then. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no way I鈥檓 ever chopping. I wish you guys all the best. I鈥檒l see you at the finish line.鈥
But the finish line came quickly for him. Perry was eliminated on Christmas Eve when Denver, a 7陆-point favorite at home over lowly New England, lost.
The field had shrunk to four with two weeks left in the regular season, and they reportedly had agreed to a deal in which each would get $2 million with the winner picking up the remaining $1.267 million. However, that was moot as all four won in the final two weeks of the contest, so they each won were awarded slightly more than $2.3 million 鈥 not a bad return for a $1,000 investment.
For their final picks, two selected Cincinnati to beat Cleveland, which it did handily (31-14). The others picked Las Vegas over Denver, also a fairly easy victory (27-14).
But illustrating the weird nature of the final week of the regular season, in which teams that already have a playoff seeding locked in often rest a lot of their front-line players, the last-place Bengals were favored over the postseason-bound Browns and the Raiders were favored over the Broncos, who at the time had the better record.