Las Vegas sportsbooks welcomed back the NCAA Tournament on Friday after a one-year hiatus, and the biggest betting event of the year did not disappoint.
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.
The roars weren’t as loud as in years past, but even a half-capacity crowd at the Westgate sportsbook created a lively atmosphere on the first day of the NCAA Tournament.
Sharp bettors and the betting public are banking on Ohio to cover the spread against Virginia, which opened as a 10½-point favorite but is down to -7.
VSiN host Mitch Moss and handicappers Kelly Stewart, Paul Stone, Bruce Marshall and Doug Fitz compete in a contest covering NCAA Tournament games Friday and Saturday.
A No. 12 seed has won at least one first-round game in 30 of the last 35 NCAA Tournaments. Will a 12 seed win a game Friday or Saturday? Yes is -280 at William Hill, and No is +240.
Daniel Berger, ranked No. 15 in the world, is the 12-1 favorite at the Westgate sportsbook, followed by Sungjae Im (14-1), Joaquin Niemann (18-1) and Lee Westwood (20-1).
Chadwick Boseman is -1,429 to win the Academy Award for best actor after he was posthumously nominated for his role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
To commemorate owner Derek Stevens’ betting tradition, Circa sportsbook took $10,000 limit bets on its mobile app Sunday on the opening lines of the NCAA Tournament.
Las Vegas bookmakers have been at odds for years with the NCAA selection committee, but there was only one instance Sunday in which a higher seed was favored over a lower seed.
Handicapper Lou Finocchiaro is betting that the main event between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad will not go the distance (+145).
Since 2002, when Ken Pomeroy started KenPom.com, 17 of the 18 NCAA champions have ranked in the top 20 in his offensive and defensive efficiency ratings.
World No. 2 Jon Rahm is 16-1. Bryson DeChambeau, fresh off his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, is 19-1, and world No. 3 Justin Thomas is 22-1.
The Pac-12 and Mountain West men’s basketball tournaments tip off Wednesday in Las Vegas, where the top four teams in each conference are 5-1 or less.
After Brooklyn added six-time All-Star Blake Griffin on Sunday, the Westgate made the Nets +250 favorites and moved the Lakers to the +275 second choice to win the NBA title.
Dollar Loan Center founder Chuck Brennan placed a $10,000 bet to win $10 million at Circa on Josh Bilicki to win the Pennzoil 400 at LVMS to hedge a promotion.
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