Tiger holds on, and other weekend results
As usual, Tiger Woods was the overwhelming favorite heading into this past weekend's PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. He was the 2-1 top choice at the Las Vegas Hilton and even lower at other sports books in town.
When he shot a 63 on Friday to tie the record for the lowest round shot in a major and took a two-stroke lead, it was pretty much assumed that he would coast to victory. He then increased his lead to three strokes after Saturday's round, and the Hilton posted a Woods vs. the field prop in which Woods was -1500 (you would have to risk $15 for every $1 you wanted to profit) and the field was +1000 (win $10 for every $1 wagered).
The former looked like a sounder investment than anything in the stock market as Woods continued to dominate on Sunday, building his lead to five strokes, but then Ernie Els and Woody Austin made runs at him. In fact, after Woods bogeyed the 14th hole, Austin missed a birdie putt on the 15h hole that would have tied him for the lead. But then Woods birdied the next hole and held on for a two-stroke victory and his 13th career major.
There was one losing bet that Woods was involved in as he was a -220 favorite at the Hilton in a final-round head-to-head matchup vs. Els, who was +190. Els shot a 66 while Woods carded a 69.
* At the beginning of 2007, Jeff Sherman, sports book supervisor and golf oddsmaker at the Hilton, had odds on how many majors Woods would win this year. The favorite? "Exactly 1 Major" at 3-2. "0 Majors" was 11-4, "exactly 2 Majors" was 9-4, "exactly 3 Majors" was 7-1, and "4 Majors (Grand Slam)" was 20-1. If you had just wanted to bet if Woods would win any major, you would have had to lay 4-11. The other major winners on the year who were winners on that prop were Zach Johnson (Masters) at 25-1, Angel Cabrera (U.S. Open) at 25-1, and Padraig Harrington (British Open) at 10-1.
* Sherman is expected to post his opening odds on the 2008 Masters, to be played April 10-13, by Monday evening. They can be checked out at the Hilton or online at golfodds.com.
Sports book notes
NFL preseason games were a big focus in the sports books this past weekend, even though the games don't count and backups and players who won't even make the final rosters are playing in crunch time to determine the final scores. That's how much Americans love their football, and betting on it. Betting results have been pretty balanced so far with favorites going 8-7 against the spread through Sunday's games. Road teams hold an 8-6 edge against the spread, unless you toss in the Hall of Fame Game last Sunday when the Steelers received more fan support in the neutral-site game, in which case the road teams would be just 8-7. Unders are 8-6-1 so far, but bettors who got on the under bandwagon late haven't fared as well. Through Friday night, unders were 5-2 overall and the talk in the books were about "the defenses being ahead of the offenses" and that this happens every year despite the oddsmakers shading the totals lower (no total has been as high as 37 points). However, the under only went 3-4-1 the past two days.
* Jeff Gordon was the 4-1 favorite in the Nextel Cup race at Watkins, Glen, N.Y., on Sunday while Tony Stewart was the second choice at 5-1. Gordon looked like he was on his way to victory until he spun out with two laps to go on the road course and that allowed Stewart to claim his third victory in the last four weeks.
* Note for ViewFromVegas.com readers: I'll be updating the NFL over/under season win totals for each team after this weekend's preseason games end with Monday's Eagles-Ravens and Broncos-49ers matchups (they haven't changed too much). Then, at the end of the week, I'll be posting the full list of football contests available in Las Vegas this season, including breaking them down into season-long contests that people have to enter their plays each week (or have a local proxy submit plays on their behalf) and which ones can be entered by tourists when they come to town for a weekend or periodically during the season.
When he shot a 63 on Friday to tie the record for the lowest round shot in a major and took a two-stroke lead, it was pretty much assumed that he would coast to victory. He then increased his lead to three strokes after Saturday's round, and the Hilton posted a Woods vs. the field prop in which Woods was -1500 (you would have to risk $15 for every $1 you wanted to profit) and the field was +1000 (win $10 for every $1 wagered).
The former looked like a sounder investment than anything in the stock market as Woods continued to dominate on Sunday, building his lead to five strokes, but then Ernie Els and Woody Austin made runs at him. In fact, after Woods bogeyed the 14th hole, Austin missed a birdie putt on the 15h hole that would have tied him for the lead. But then Woods birdied the next hole and held on for a two-stroke victory and his 13th career major.
There was one losing bet that Woods was involved in as he was a -220 favorite at the Hilton in a final-round head-to-head matchup vs. Els, who was +190. Els shot a 66 while Woods carded a 69.
* At the beginning of 2007, Jeff Sherman, sports book supervisor and golf oddsmaker at the Hilton, had odds on how many majors Woods would win this year. The favorite? "Exactly 1 Major" at 3-2. "0 Majors" was 11-4, "exactly 2 Majors" was 9-4, "exactly 3 Majors" was 7-1, and "4 Majors (Grand Slam)" was 20-1. If you had just wanted to bet if Woods would win any major, you would have had to lay 4-11. The other major winners on the year who were winners on that prop were Zach Johnson (Masters) at 25-1, Angel Cabrera (U.S. Open) at 25-1, and Padraig Harrington (British Open) at 10-1.
* Sherman is expected to post his opening odds on the 2008 Masters, to be played April 10-13, by Monday evening. They can be checked out at the Hilton or online at golfodds.com.
Sports book notes
NFL preseason games were a big focus in the sports books this past weekend, even though the games don't count and backups and players who won't even make the final rosters are playing in crunch time to determine the final scores. That's how much Americans love their football, and betting on it. Betting results have been pretty balanced so far with favorites going 8-7 against the spread through Sunday's games. Road teams hold an 8-6 edge against the spread, unless you toss in the Hall of Fame Game last Sunday when the Steelers received more fan support in the neutral-site game, in which case the road teams would be just 8-7. Unders are 8-6-1 so far, but bettors who got on the under bandwagon late haven't fared as well. Through Friday night, unders were 5-2 overall and the talk in the books were about "the defenses being ahead of the offenses" and that this happens every year despite the oddsmakers shading the totals lower (no total has been as high as 37 points). However, the under only went 3-4-1 the past two days.
* Jeff Gordon was the 4-1 favorite in the Nextel Cup race at Watkins, Glen, N.Y., on Sunday while Tony Stewart was the second choice at 5-1. Gordon looked like he was on his way to victory until he spun out with two laps to go on the road course and that allowed Stewart to claim his third victory in the last four weeks.
* Note for ViewFromVegas.com readers: I'll be updating the NFL over/under season win totals for each team after this weekend's preseason games end with Monday's Eagles-Ravens and Broncos-49ers matchups (they haven't changed too much). Then, at the end of the week, I'll be posting the full list of football contests available in Las Vegas this season, including breaking them down into season-long contests that people have to enter their plays each week (or have a local proxy submit plays on their behalf) and which ones can be entered by tourists when they come to town for a weekend or periodically during the season.
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