NFL Draft Betting in Nevada

Times are tough if you’re a Nevada sports bettor. There’s not much to bet on and not many places to bet. It’s not completely dead, though.

Sports books are one casino component that could have remained open in April. With the apps now available, no direct customer contact is needed so it’s up to the operators as to how they decide to proceed. The reaction has ranged from the complete shutdown of all services, including withdrawals, to books not only staying open and available, but getting creative with their menus. Some books are now offering betting on events previously thought to be of too little interest to even merit the posting of lines. With the lack of live events to bet on, some players have resorted to betting on eSports — which is pretty much teenagers playing video games. Strange times.

The biggest event of April has turned out to be the NFL Draft. The draft is an event that requires no fans, no specific venue, and quite frankly, no human interaction. With some preparation and adjustment, it can take place remotely for all parties. After being scheduled for Las Vegas with the expectation of generating a huge fan turnout at an outdoor Strip venue, flipping the switch to convert it to a 100% remote event was a no-brainer. Sports bettors are starving for something to dig into while being stuck at home and the draft is a perfect fit. It will get big TV ratings and the books that have remained open will easily do their biggest write of the month. 

Keep in mind that certain restrictions apply on draft bets in Nevada. Many bets will go off the board 24 hours prior to the start of the draft.

Here’s a short list and ranking of Nevada books (with a mobile app presence) and their current status during draft week.

#1) Circa Sports

Circa lives up to it’s reputation for being the most flexible and available book in the state — and also the most innovative.

The guys running the show at Circa are gamblers and recognize the implied odds value of remaining open and staying available.

Throughout the month, they’ve been active in keeping things as fresh as possible on the betting menu. Right now there’s not a whole lot to work with, but Circa has taken what little there is and maximized it. You can bet E-Sports, Belarusian Premier League soccer, and eNascar, along with the NFL Draft. Circa’s most interesting category of draft bets is labeled “NFL Draft Team 1st Pick YES/NO.” For each NFL team, they ask a question regarding the category of player that will be selected. It’s a good list and some teams, e.g., the Bengals, are tough to get creative with, yet all 32 teams have a bet up. 

Season wins for the NFL are available and the future books are being adjusted daily. NFL MVP Odds for 87 players went up last week. As expected, the list is dominated by QBs. The only non-QB in the top 24 odds-wise is RB Christian McCaffrey at 35-1.

For an independent sports book that currently serves just the Nevada market (with Colorado soon to be added) Circa has stepped up and distinguished itself from the rest of the crowd. Betting on the Circa sports app is available 24/7. Two thumbs up!

#2) BetMGM

The following three sports books in the ranking are all entities with a national presence. BetMGM takes the #2 spot due to its variety of draft props and its less militant stance regarding sharper bettors. For the draft, BetMGM has a long list of bets on its app. A chunk of it is composed of charts, but it offers more than 90 two-way bets that will keep you busy sifting through them. The straddle structure starts at 20 cents and begins to escalate at -135. It’s a good assortment of draft props. I successfully made a bet there at 5 a.m., so you can burn the midnight oil this week looking for value.

Look-ahead lines for 160+ NCAA football games went up last week on the MGM app. The schedule starts with Navy and Notre Dame playing in Dublin on Aug 29 and finishes with the Army/Navy game on Dec 12. Pointspreads and money lines are available for all games listed.

BetMGM NV also offers eSports, and soccer from various obscure leagues are also sporadically available. The wildly popular Tajikistan Vysshaya Liga was up on last check. FC Khujand was a -215 favorite on the three-way vs. Kutosh. Total was 2.5/OV -180, so even Borat has something to bet. Very nice!

#3) William Hill

During normal times, the fact that some players have been excluded from app betting at William Hill wouldn’t necessarily be as big a deal. Because of the availability of counter and kiosk betting, the excluded could still get action in if determined. Now that it’s mobile only, however, this group is really feeling the loss. Momentarily disregarding that issue, if you can bet at WH, you have a really good draft out.

William Hill has a strong selection of two-way draft props available. It has Yes/No drafted in the first round bets, match-ups, as in “Who will be drafted first?,” draft position OV/UN bets, and a number of category OV/UNs, such as “Total SEC players drafted Rd #1.”

Will Hill offers darts, soccer, eSports, and what little else there is to bet they pretty much have lines for. 

#4) Caesars Sports

Caesars NV has 23 two-way draft props with a 30-cent straddle structure. It also has a short list of multi-props, including things like a three-way of “Player Selected First by the Atlanta Falcons.” The house take-out starts at 14% on these three-ways. Season wins for NFL and CFB are up at CAE. On those they use a 20-cent straddle. There’s not much else available on the Nevada app, but having the draft bets available makes them a valuable out this week. Caesars is open 24/7 on the app.

#5) Baldini’s

Baldini’s operates independently out of its Reno/Sparks location. It was formerly associated with Station Casinos and USBookmaking, but made the move to an independent operation in 2019. Once it introduced its app, things got interesting. This app was the best kept secret among informed bettors during most of the 2019 NFL season. Baldini’s was offering a $200 first-deposit bonus and also had a free football contest as part of its welcome package. Players had access to one of the least-bet-into independent lines in the state and found opportunities all season long. During the crisis, Baldini’s remained open for betting via the app, but with reduced hours. It has draft props, along with some futures on NFL. For the draft, it has 40 two-way bets with a 30-cent straddle structure. It’s future book has some categories open (in the NFL, I took the Patriots +1/2 season wins -110 vs. the Bucs there). 

After these, it gets pretty bleak. In fact, there’s not another book taking draft bets in Nevada. Station had draft props up for a while, but has since shut down completely. If you see a list somewhere of Station props, they’re not available anymore. Most books that have shut down have a notice up on their log-in page. Some have a mechanism for withdrawing your balance during the shutdown. When checking the app, I found that Wynn is not processing any payouts. No surprise there regarding WLV’s customer service. Coast and Westgate have instructions (on the app) on how to withdraw. At Treasure Island, South Point, Atlantis, and Station you can log in, but there’s nothing much to see. I couldn’t log in to Golden Nugget.

There’re just a handful of places to bet in Nevada right now. My suggestion to all books that have an app is to post as much info as possible. Players want to know if betting is available, hours of operation, how to withdraw, etc. Some apps have absolutely no info listed. 

For the those that remain open, it’s certainly appreciated. Player confidence at your shops will carry over when things shape up. Many thanks.

If you’re still betting during these times, good for you — and good luck this week with your NFL Draft and Russian table tennis bets.