{"id":34448,"date":"2018-08-20T07:35:13","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T11:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=34448"},"modified":"2026-03-11T22:46:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T02:46:33","slug":"sportsbooks-cautious-after-vegas-heroics-last-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/08\/20\/sportsbooks-cautious-after-vegas-heroics-last-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Sportsbooks Cautious after Vegas Heroics Last Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">One of the most famous betting stories in the English Premier League revolves around Leicester City winning the title in 2016. The unfancied side were given odds of up to 5000\/1 by some bookmakers, a price that was snapped up by just a handful of the most optimistic fans. Nobody thought it could happen, but it did, and those loyal fans were rewarded for betting with their hearts and not their heads.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">While the fairy tale did not pan out in the same manner for the Vegas Golden Knights in NHL last season, sportsbooks certainly got a scare as they watch the expansion team win game after game en route to the Stanley Cup Finals. The odds offered at the start of the season were as big as 500\/1 with some books. It\u2019s safe to say the bookies got off lightly when the Capitals, who were nonetheless also a big price, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2018\/06\/08\/washington-capitals-stanley-cup\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s2\">lifted the Stanley Cup in June<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Vegas viewed as a completely different prospect this term<\/b><\/span><\/h1>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Aside from the irony of the first ever team from Las Vegas nearly delivering a fatal blow to sportsbooks, the side\u2019s success has meant that top <span class=\"s2\">sports betting platforms<\/span> from Canada and elsewhere have been reluctant to rule several sides out of the running. The Golden Knights themselves have been given odds of 17\/1 from Leo Vegas. Quite the climbdown from the 500\/1 a year ago. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IWxwal2WJTI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Sure, several teams are still given big odds of 100\/1. But, as Vegas showed last season, that price does not mean you should rule out the Ottawa Senators or Detroit Red Wings altogether. In saying that, by and large, the bookmakers usually get it right, so it\u2019s highly unlikely the Stanley Cup will be coming home to those cities in June next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Tavares move caused Maple Leafs\u2019 odds to tumble<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Of course, some moves in the offseason mean the bookmakers have to take notice. The deal that everyone was talking about this summer, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/nhl\/story\/_\/id\/23964643\/2018-nhl-free-agency-grade-john-tavares-deal-toronto-maple-leafs\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s2\">John Tavares moving to the Maple Leafs<\/span><\/a>, immediately caused a stir in betting circles. Some sportsbooks \u2018dived straight in\u2019, putting the Maple Leafs as the new favourites at around 7\/1 to win the Stanley Cup next season. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Others were again a little more cautious, keeping Tampa Bay Lightning in there as the favourites, with odds also coming in about 7\/1. That\u2019s totally understandable, given the Lightning were arguably the most formidable team in NHL last season. They have retained the services of key players, meaning most pundits reckon they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/news\/nhl-power-rankings-super-16-july-26\/c-299588646\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s2\">will be in the mix again<\/span><\/a> once the season begins.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Champions look like good betting value<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">As for the champions, they are floating around the position of sixth-favourites, with odds of 11\/1 or so. The jury is certainly out on whether the sportsbooks have sold the chances of the Capitals too high or too low, but the consensus seems to be that they grew in stature last season. It\u2019s a difficult call. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Nothing can be ruled out, of course, as there are still many factors that can put a different spin on the season in weeks or months from now. But there certainly signs that sportsbooks are reluctant to go all-in on a team or to dismiss a team\u2019s chances altogether. Let\u2019s hope that\u2019s an omen for a vintage season ahead. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"Bk72SWScQuF0UCVY-V5bcw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/971473496\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Bk72SWScQuF0UCVY-V5bcw',sig:'fWl3Lb_F7HAsQhgg3hIfd8nQKqpuXYbTwttAe8qh1Rk=',w:'594px',h:'433px',items:'971473496',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most famous betting stories in the English Premier League revolves around Leicester City winning the title in 2016. The unfancied side were given odds of up to 5000\/1 by some bookmakers, a price that was snapped up by just a handful of the most optimistic fans. Nobody thought it could happen, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1675,"featured_media":34449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,807],"tags":[3561,37,72,961,75],"class_list":["post-34448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-vegas-golden-knights","tag-betting","tag-hockey","tag-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-vegas-golden-knights","tag-washington-capitals"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1675"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":485117,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34448\/revisions\/485117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}