The South Point has come up with a fresh idea to make visiting its property a must throughout the NFL season. Of course the lure is cash, a whole bunch of it.
How does winning a weekly progressive jackpot that begins at $250,000 sound?
Beginning with Week 1 and running through Week 17, $10 is all it takes to enter the contest. If no one correctly picks all 17 options, half the cash taken in will be added to the following week’s jackpot. To win the big cash it’s going to take some skill, but also a lot of luck.
There will be 17 options to choose from on the card with pointspreads and a few totals between the Sunday and Monday games. You can enter as many times as you like. Hit all 17 and you win the Jackpot. Simple, right? Yes, it will be difficult to hit, but there aren’t many betting options in town where $10 can win you more than $250,000.
Anticipate the pot increasing about $20,000 per week. And also figure the Jackpot being won about three to four times during the season, which would make the South Point’s Progressive a huge overlay, meaning they’re going to pay out way more than they’re making off it.
In addition to being able to play for the jackpot, you can also enter under their umbrella of sportsbooks at the Rampart in Summerlin and Riverside in Laughlin.
So when making that route out to turn in all your contest entries around town, be sure to include in a stop at one of the South Point’s books to take a crack at this.
Almost football time
We’re two Sundays away from the first exhibition game and while the Hall of Fame preseason matchup never features a great brand, it’s still pro football. And we’ve been patiently waiting for any kind of hint that football is really back. CG Technology sportsbooks posted Green Bay as a 2.5-point favorite over Indianapolis in this year’s game in Canton.
After Aaron Rodgers runs the offense for two series, the Packers will give former UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley the reigns and then take long looks at Marquise Williams and Joe Callahan. The Colts will have a healthy Andrew Luck for a few series then let new back-up Scott Tolzien take over and eventually give way to Stephen Morris.
No matter what angle someone throws your way, there is no solid handicapping method, so tread lightly. But it’s real football action so a bet or two has to happen, right? I always like to believe the defenses are far more advanced than the offenses early on so I’m usually looking to bet UNDER the total in early preseason games. CG has this total at 35.5.
Duke vs. UNLV
It’s unusual to see a college basketball game posted with a line in July, but it’s not every decade that Duke and UNLV hook-up for a date. The two teams last met 25 years ago in the 1991 Final Four with Duke upsetting a 34-0 UNLV squad, 79-77. It was one year after UNLV won it’s only national championship by beating Duke, 103-73.
The Westgate SuperBook saw there was some excitement over the Dec. 10 meeting so they posted a pointspread for the first college hoops game played at the beautiful new T-Mobile Center. Because of the serious gap in talent between the two schools now, Duke, who is the 7-to-2 favorite to win this season’s national championship, opened as a 15.5-point favorite.
UNLV will be guided by new coach Marvin Menzies and a bunch of new faces. UNLV lost its top seven scorers from last season. Duke comes in loaded with its top scorer returning and the nation’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class.
As much as I’d love to believe the Rebels can pull off the upset, if I had to choose a side to bet right now, laying -15.5 with Duke might actually be a bargain. Chances are the spread will be much higher by game time.
PGA championship
Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson opened as 8-to-1 co-favorites at the Westgate SuperBook to win the PGA Championship that tees off Thursday at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. This will be the fourth and final major of 2016 with the first three won by first-time major winners. The last time all four majors had first-time winners was in 2003.
SuperBook assistant manager Jeff Sherman set the odds for all 155 golfers entered and says since posting numbers last Sunday the two golfers generating the most excitement finished 1-2 in the British Open two weeks ago.
“Bettors like to bet based on what they saw last so it’s not surprising to see Phil Mickelson as the golfer with the most money wagered on so far and Henrik Stenson have the most tickets written. We’ve already dropped Mickelson from 25-1 down to 20-1. (Stenson is down from 20-1 to 15-1.),” said Sherman.
“I could see Mickelson having a good tournament run not only because of carrying momentum from finishing second at the British Open but also because he won his only PGA Championship on the same course in 2005.”
Mickelson was 4-under in his 2005 win, the second of his five major wins.
Twitter: @MicahRoberts7