Las Vegas sportsbooks may be rooting for the Boston Bruins to win the NHL’s Stanley Cup Championship as an upset by the challenging St. Luis Blues would result in millions in collective losses.
The Las Vegas Review Journal polled sports books and found that the liability on the Blues is high, mostly due to the fact that the team was actually last in the NHL in January.
William Hill, South Point, MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment sportsbooks each face mid-six figure liabilities on the Blues, who were 300-1 long shots in January to win the Cup, the paper reported.
“The liability is close to the Golden Knights last year,” The Mirage sportsbook director Jeff Stoneback said. “There’s no big bets, but lots at very big odds.”
South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said the sportsbooks took about $1,000 in wagers on St. Louis at 300-1 odds, and a Caesars bettor placed a $400 wager Jan. 15 to win $100,000 on the Blues at 250-1 odds.
“We definitely are Bruins fans,” Caesars risk manager Jeff Davis said.
Much of the betting came when the Blues began an 11-game win streak from Jan. 23 to Feb. 19.
“They were dead last and made that magical run,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich told the Review Journal. “People were on them early in the run and stayed on them and kept betting them. Hats off to the bettors. They smelled that one pretty good.”
