NCAA title game recap/Masters preview
After an NCAA men's basketball tournament that had more routs than nail-biters, the title game on Monday night in San Antonio was worth the wait. Kansas rallied to send the game to overtime and then won 75-68 for the outright upset of favored Memphis. Underdog bettors and bookmakers were happy to see Kansas pull off upsets in their last two games to claim the championship as favorites went 39-24 against the spread (61.9 percent).
Sports books here were rocking and bettors were also following their proposition bets, not that the game needed any more excitement. The Wynn Las Vegas even posted adjusted game lines during each commercial break.
Memphis closed as a 2-point favorite all over town after opening pick-em at most sports books last Saturday night. The Las Vegas Hilton went with Kansas -1 but that was gone quickly as bettors made Memphis the favorite. The total, which opened at over/under 146 points at most books, give or take a half-point here or there, closed a solid 147.
The first prop bet to be decided was one that the Hilton offered that asked if Kansas' Brandon Rush would miss a free throw. The "no" was actually favored at -130 (risk $1.30 for every $1 you want to profit) with the "yes" at +110 (win $1.10 for every $1 wagered). Rush went to the free-throw line at 19:04 of the first half, less than a minute into the game, and proceeded to miss his very first attempt.
The prop on which team would make the first 3-pointer (offered at -110 either way) wasn't decided for nearly 10 minutes as the two teams combined to miss the first five long-range tries. Kansas' Mario Chalmers made the first one at the 10:10 mark.
Kansas led 33-28 at halftime as the Jayhawks won the first half as 1-point dogs. The first-half total was 69.5, so it finished well under. The second-half line was offered between Memphis -2 (Hilton and Leroy's) and -3 (MGM Mirage) around town with the total in the 77-78 range.
Memphis seemed in control down the stretch, opening up a 60-51 lead with 2:12 remaining after Robert Dozier made two free throws, though it was well below the over/under 14.5 points for the biggest lead of the game. The Tigers looked like they might overcome their season-long Achilles heel of poor free-throw shooting, especially when Chris Douglas-Roberts went 2-for-2 from the line at the 1:39 to keep Memphis ahead 62-56, but they went 1-for-4 the rest of regulation and left the door open for Chalmers to hit the clutch 3-pointer with :06 left to force overtime. When Kansas launched that shot, Memphis was leading by 3 and thus covering the spread, so Chalmers kept Memphis backers from cashing.
Kansas dominated in overtime and its 7-point victory also made winners of those who took the Jayhawks +2.5 for the second half (which includes overtime).
Masters Preview
The eyes of the sporting world now shifts to Augusta, Ga., for the Masters on Thursday through Sunday. Woods is the 6-5 favorite, a ridiculously low price with the size of the field and the best golfers in the world taking part, but that's how dominant he has been. And he almost always plays even better in the majors.
For those who dare go against Woods (and you get the whole rest of the field), the Las Vegas Hilton also offered a way to cheer against him with a "Will Tiger Woods Win the 2008 Masters?" prop in which the "no" is -140 with the "yes" at +120.
Phil Mickelson is the second choice at 10-1, followed by Vijay Singh (20-1); the foursome of Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy and Retief Goosen at 25-1; and Padraig Harrington and Jim Furyk at 30-1. The full list of odds are on the ViewFromVegas.com Odds and Ends page. Woods is a -450 favorite over Mickelson in a head-to-head matchup at the Las Vegas Hilton. Other matchups are also on that page, as are proposition wagers, including over/under 149.5 for the 36-hole cut, over/under 282.5 for the winning score, over/under 66.5 for the lowest round, and over/under on certain golfer's finish position and first-round scores.
There is one way to get 20-1 on Woods. That's his odds in the Wednesday's Par 3 Contest, which is being televised for the first time. He's the 20-1 favorite followed by Harrington and Luke Donald at 25-1, with the following nine golfers all at 30-1: Singh, Scott, Mickelson, Ogilvy, Furyk, Goosen, Els, Justin Rose and Steve Stricker.
Sports books here were rocking and bettors were also following their proposition bets, not that the game needed any more excitement. The Wynn Las Vegas even posted adjusted game lines during each commercial break.
Memphis closed as a 2-point favorite all over town after opening pick-em at most sports books last Saturday night. The Las Vegas Hilton went with Kansas -1 but that was gone quickly as bettors made Memphis the favorite. The total, which opened at over/under 146 points at most books, give or take a half-point here or there, closed a solid 147.
The first prop bet to be decided was one that the Hilton offered that asked if Kansas' Brandon Rush would miss a free throw. The "no" was actually favored at -130 (risk $1.30 for every $1 you want to profit) with the "yes" at +110 (win $1.10 for every $1 wagered). Rush went to the free-throw line at 19:04 of the first half, less than a minute into the game, and proceeded to miss his very first attempt.
The prop on which team would make the first 3-pointer (offered at -110 either way) wasn't decided for nearly 10 minutes as the two teams combined to miss the first five long-range tries. Kansas' Mario Chalmers made the first one at the 10:10 mark.
Kansas led 33-28 at halftime as the Jayhawks won the first half as 1-point dogs. The first-half total was 69.5, so it finished well under. The second-half line was offered between Memphis -2 (Hilton and Leroy's) and -3 (MGM Mirage) around town with the total in the 77-78 range.
Memphis seemed in control down the stretch, opening up a 60-51 lead with 2:12 remaining after Robert Dozier made two free throws, though it was well below the over/under 14.5 points for the biggest lead of the game. The Tigers looked like they might overcome their season-long Achilles heel of poor free-throw shooting, especially when Chris Douglas-Roberts went 2-for-2 from the line at the 1:39 to keep Memphis ahead 62-56, but they went 1-for-4 the rest of regulation and left the door open for Chalmers to hit the clutch 3-pointer with :06 left to force overtime. When Kansas launched that shot, Memphis was leading by 3 and thus covering the spread, so Chalmers kept Memphis backers from cashing.
Kansas dominated in overtime and its 7-point victory also made winners of those who took the Jayhawks +2.5 for the second half (which includes overtime).
Masters Preview
The eyes of the sporting world now shifts to Augusta, Ga., for the Masters on Thursday through Sunday. Woods is the 6-5 favorite, a ridiculously low price with the size of the field and the best golfers in the world taking part, but that's how dominant he has been. And he almost always plays even better in the majors.
For those who dare go against Woods (and you get the whole rest of the field), the Las Vegas Hilton also offered a way to cheer against him with a "Will Tiger Woods Win the 2008 Masters?" prop in which the "no" is -140 with the "yes" at +120.
Phil Mickelson is the second choice at 10-1, followed by Vijay Singh (20-1); the foursome of Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy and Retief Goosen at 25-1; and Padraig Harrington and Jim Furyk at 30-1. The full list of odds are on the ViewFromVegas.com Odds and Ends page. Woods is a -450 favorite over Mickelson in a head-to-head matchup at the Las Vegas Hilton. Other matchups are also on that page, as are proposition wagers, including over/under 149.5 for the 36-hole cut, over/under 282.5 for the winning score, over/under 66.5 for the lowest round, and over/under on certain golfer's finish position and first-round scores.
There is one way to get 20-1 on Woods. That's his odds in the Wednesday's Par 3 Contest, which is being televised for the first time. He's the 20-1 favorite followed by Harrington and Luke Donald at 25-1, with the following nine golfers all at 30-1: Singh, Scott, Mickelson, Ogilvy, Furyk, Goosen, Els, Justin Rose and Steve Stricker.
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