{"id":28091,"date":"2020-10-05T10:53:25","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T18:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=28091"},"modified":"2020-10-07T05:05:21","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T13:05:21","slug":"covid-19-rattles-oddsmakers-no-joy-in-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/covid-19-rattles-oddsmakers-no-joy-in-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 rattles oddsmakers; No joy in Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"Before the ink was dry on a deal for BetMGM<\/strong> to become the official wagering partner of the Tennessee Titans<\/strong>, inescapable Covid-19<\/strong> rippled through the Titans’ ranks, forcing indefinite postponement of a tilt against the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/strong>. Incidences like this and tonight’s delayed Kansas City Chiefs<\/strong>\/New England Patriots<\/strong> face-off are starting to make themselves felt in NFL<\/strong> betting lines. \u201cThe first few weeks in the NFL went so well, it would have been easy to forget that a single positive test can send waves through the schedule,\u201d said Brett Collson<\/strong>, lead analyst for TheLines.com<\/strong>. \u201cOddsmakers are accustomed to factoring in injuries, but both bettors and oddsmakers are dealing with an extremely fluid situation where active rosters and schedules can change in a flash. So far, it appears that hasn\u2019t dampened the enthusiasm for bettors overall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s good, but you can’t put down a wager on the Week 5 game between the Titans and Buffalo Bills<\/strong>. Too many imponderables. Four other games have only partial odds, pending tonight’s outcome. Also, oddsmakers are getting headaches trying to adjust the odds to account for the positive Covid tests of players like Cam Newton<\/strong>. Meanwhile, to amuse ourselves, we note that the Baltimore Ravens<\/strong> are 13.5-point favorites over the lowly Cincinnati Bengals<\/strong>, the biggest point spread on the board. (We think it should be bigger. The over\/under is 52 points.) Other big spreads are fairly predictable, such as +7.5 for the Steelers over the Philadelphia Eagles<\/strong> and identical odds for the San Francisco 49ers<\/strong> against the interception-prone Miami Dolphins<\/strong>. The Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong> are lambs to the slaughter against the Chiefs, -11.5 points. If you like gaudy scoring, TheLines.com favors the Minnesota Vikings<\/strong>\/Seattle Seahawks<\/strong> shootout, with its 57.5-point over\/under. There’s been some pissing and moaning about how the season would be so much better had exhibition games been played (putting starters at risk) but from what we’ve been watching it’s hella exciting and we are definitely ready for some (more) football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>‘s agreement to buy William Hill<\/strong> got a look-see from JP Morgan<\/strong> analyst Daniel Politzer<\/strong> and he liked what he saw. Now Caesars owns 100% of its sports-betting operation, plus William Hill assets in non-Caesars locations, such as Internet gambling in Michigan<\/strong>. “CZR will benefit from a more defined brand strategy that paves the way for enhanced media partnerships, and customer experience should improve from a fully integrated, single-wallet product that seamlessly integrates online sports betting and iGaming,” wrote Politzer. He believes Caesars can capture 10%-15% market share and reduce its customer-capture costs through the use of Caesars Rewards<\/strong>. This also unifies the CZR\/CBS<\/strong> and Hill\/ESPN<\/strong> affiliations, a powerful combination of platforms. As expected, Caesars will issue $2 billion in debt secured by William Hill’s international business, which Caesars has already started shopping. So, if they sell them, what secures the $2 billion then? Anyway, the deal is not expected to close for as much as a year, so Caesars has plenty of time to work out the financing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did Twin River Holdings<\/strong> get conned? It’s paying $120 million for Jumer’s Casino Rock Island<\/strong>, in Illinois<\/strong>. This is a devil of a time to be entering the Land of Lincoln’s casino market, Jumer’s best days are behind it (it used to benefit powerfully from being right on the freeway into Illinois from Iowa<\/strong>) and it’s an awfully high purchase price<\/a> compared to what Twin River committed to Bally’s Atlantic City<\/strong>. Unless your casino is called “Rivers Casino Des Plaines,” these are not happy days in which to be running a gambling house in Illinois. We think Twin River should have just said no but hope that it can turn around Jumer’s faltering fortunes. Said Twin River CEO George Papanier<\/strong>, “we believe there is an opportunity to improve operations and enhance revenues at the property which would allow us to lower our acquisition multiple.” They’ll need to. Papanier inherits 870 slots, 25 table games and 205 hotel rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloomberg<\/em> laid it right on the line: “With Covid 19 tanking tourism, Las Vegas<\/strong> saw the biggest jump in apartment tenants who have stopped paying rent.” 10.5% are delinquent, up from 4% a year ago and closing in on New Orleans<\/strong>‘ 13%. Said RealPage<\/strong> economist Greg Willett<\/strong>, “There’s more stress in hospitality-focused and expensive markets,” and Las Vegas qualifies on both counts. Sin City appears to be going to Hell in a hand basket in other ways. A recent visitor reports on Vegas Message Board<\/strong>: “Staying at the Hilton Grand Vacations<\/strong> at the Flamingo<\/strong>. The Linq<\/strong> was barely passable. Gangs of people crowded the streets. I don\u2019t think any were gamblers, it was a disaster waiting to happen. A shooting in front of Battistas<\/strong> one night and one in the front of the Flamingo. I can just tell you the weekend nights were scary, I mean you really had to be mindful of your surroundings. I have been to Vegas at least 100 times in my 66 years and never felt so uncomfortable. I don\u2019t know the reason, I just did not like it. Will it keep me from going?? Hell no, I love the place, but it is not your parents Vegas right now, that is the honest truth.” No wonder Las Vegas Metro<\/strong> doesn’t have time to chase phantoms from the Sept. 6 Wynncore<\/strong> brawl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can’t trust the U.S. Postal Service<\/strong> with your ballot? What about your lottery winnings? Florida<\/strong> resident Sue Burgess<\/strong> is out $1,000 after submitting her winning ticket through certified mail<\/a>. That’s certified<\/em> mail, mind you. Burgess had a week to get her ticket submitted, the envelope made it as far as the Tallahassee<\/strong> post office, then vanished. Did somebody “throw it in a river”? That was six weeks ago. Burgess would have been better off delivering the ticket in person (an option for winners). For its part, USPS is offering no recompense but says,”We apologize to this specific customer for any inconvenience they may have experienced. In this specific instance, we are continuing to work with the lottery office to confirm receipt of the mailpiece.” Too little, much too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: Congratulations to the Las Vegas Aces<\/strong> for achieving the finals of the WNBA playoffs. The Aces got name-checked by Kate McKinnon<\/strong> on the latest Saturday Night Live<\/em>, hopefully further raising their (well-deserved) profile … At the other end of the spectrum, the Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong> literally fumbled away a potential upset of the Buffalo Bills<\/strong>. It did not help that the Raider secondary couldn’t cover a baby with a blanket … Our National Pet Day mascot<\/a>, Tommy<\/strong>, was diagnosed today with terminal kidney failure. It’s pretty gloomy here at S&G<\/em> headquarters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before the ink was dry on a deal for BetMGM to become the official wagering partner of the Tennessee Titans, inescapable Covid-19 rippled through the Titans’ ranks, forcing indefinite postponement of a tilt against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Incidences like this … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,36,283,58,37,255,189,264,53,245,259,74,243,9,17,269,38,252],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28091"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28092,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28091\/revisions\/28092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}