When it comes to Las Vegas sports betting news, you already know that people are going to be working overtime during the NCAA Tournament. That’s right, March Madness betting is one of the biggest events of the year, as some people enjoy it even more than the Super Bowl. This results in countless bets, which is typically great news for Sin City. Not this year. Per a report, Las Vegas sportsbooks took a major hit during March Madness. Why?
The reason is that a lot of the teams that were favorites entering the tourney on both the men’s and women’s sides ended up going on deep runs, with No. 1 seed UConn winning it all for the men and No. 1 seed South Carolina getting the job done for the women. For UConn, this was their second consecutive title and they had the best NCAAB betting odds to come out on top before things even started. Head coach Dan Hurley knew all along his guys had what it took to repeat as champs.
“We’re a program where our players have a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger,” Hurley said of his team and the confidence they play with. “Our fan base, again, is obnoxious as (expletive) on social. So everyone hates us. It was a chance to celebrate with them because our fan base and our organization right now, it’s an us against the world of college basketball and I wanted to celebrate with them a little bit.”
While a lot of people are happy for the Huskies, this put a bit of a dent into the sports betting revenue for the month for Vegas. While the official numbers are yet to be released, the expectation is that the losses for the month are going to be pretty head-turning. Luckily for Las Vegas, their year-over-year numbers are always going to be sky-high, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that they didn’t post the kind of stats they were hoping for over the past month.
Las Vegas betting is hoping to bounce back in the NFL Draft
While March and early April indeed were a little tough for Sin City, Las Vegas betting is hoping to bounce back in the NFL Draft. Next week, the first round of the draft will arrive and we don’t have to tell you that local betting is going to be through the roof. As things stand, Caleb Williams is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick for the Chicago Bears. However, after Williams is off the board, it’s up in the air how the rest of the Top 5 will shape out.
This is where betting could get quite tricky for bettors, which is of course good news for Vegas. With the No. 2 overall pick, there’s a lot of speculation about whether or not the Washington Commanders will go with either quarterback Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels. Washington needs a new QB, but it’s unknown which direction they’ll be going in. There’s also the outside chance they end up going after J.J. McCarthy.
.@MelKiperESPN says that Jayden Daniels HAS to be the pick for the Commanders 👀 pic.twitter.com/3BTQUXjx9n
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 17, 2024
Depending on how things go with Washington, it will have a major impact on the New England Patriots and what they do with the No. 3 overall pick. Rumors have been flying that the Pats could look to trade out of that spot, with the New York Giants, who currently hold the No. 6 overall pick, looking to move up to take either Daniels or Maye – again, it all depends on what Washington decides to do at No. 2 overall.
These kinds of unknowns happen every single year during the draft, which makes it tough for people to guess where the best college players will land. Because of this, betting in the first round is pretty mysterious, with people taking chances on where they think guys will end up getting drafted. We expect things to be quite crazy for this year’s first round. It will be interesting to see how things shape out, but we sure are excited for all of the madness.
NBA postseason betting will be electric for Las Vegas
In other news, it goes without saying that NBA postseason betting will be electric for Las Vegas. The play-in tournament has arrived and the first round of the playoffs is right around the corner. In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics hold the No. 1 seed after they posted one of the best regular seasons we’ve seen in quite some time. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the No. 1 seed out West, with the Denver Nuggets right behind them.
boutta go next level 😤#DifferentHere pic.twitter.com/U6oCc8C5tQ
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 18, 2024
Currently, the Celtics hold the best NBA Finals betting odds, which isn’t a surprise. While Vegas doesn’t have its own NBA team, that doesn’t matter, as people in the city love hoops action. The NBA postseason is also a great time of the year for people to plan their vacations for Vegas to watch the action at the local sportsbooks. From start to finish, we expect NBA betting numbers to be fantastic. This is of course great news for people in Las Vegas all around.
