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MLB season totals popularity has SuperBook ‘on the verge’ of raising betting limits

Betting on MLB season win totals has grown so popular, the largest sports book in Las Vegas is strongly considering raising the limit on maximum bets.

“It’s taken on a life of its own,” said Ed Salmons, assistant manager of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. “In baseball, as far as wins and player props and division bets, it’s really gotten popular. In the NFL we’re taking bigger limits than the baseball stuff, but the baseball stuff is on the verge of having bigger limits because we’re writing so much public money right now.”

The SuperBook, which hung its MLB season win totals, division odds and individual player props on Sunday, currently limits baseball bets to $1,000, with an extension granted to house players, Salmons said. But the booming popularity of these bets—and where they’re coming from—has Westgate considering a change.

“There was a time where maybe our money would be 75 percent wise guys versus 25 percent general public,” Salmons said.

Westgate-MLB-wins
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Now, that ratio is reversed.

“The handle is through the roof as far as season wins,” Salmons said. “The baseball season wins are just really popular with the general public. And anything you can do with more general public,
it’s better for the house.”

Bettors at the Westgate are coming out strong in support of Kansas City, the defending World Series champs. Despite coming off back-to-back appearances in the Fall Classic, many projections systems—and oddsmakers—are cool on the Royals this year. Atlantis hung the Royals at 87 wins, the Golden Nugget at 84, and Westgate opened them at 83.5, prompting a flurry of action.

“Right now, they love the Royals,” Salmon said.

Betting has been significantly slower on the Cubs, who attracted more two-way action than any other team at Westgate last season, when they were pegged for about 83 wins in the preseason. Following a trip to the NLCS, their number is at 93.5 right now, and Salmons said betting on the team has been minimal on either side.

AROUND THE WEB

DFS LEGISLATION

  • A look at the Virginia bill headed for the governor’s desk; it would be the country’s first DFS regulatory bill signed into law.
  • Regulatory bill passes out of Senate committee in Tennessee.
  • FanDuel and DraftKings are expected to show support for a bill in Illinois at the state Capitol today.
  • Bill in Indiana gets tweaked before passing House committee. Changes include levying a $75,000 licensing fee and $20,000 annual regulatory fee.
  • The New York Assembly looks like it could be moving forward with a bill soon, and it includes hefty fees and taxes for operators.

LOOK WHO’S TALKING

“They basically allow you to do it, the cops. But you can get locked up and put under investigation for having too many books of stamps or getting found in possession of tickets or anything like a master sheet to record bets, which they consider gambling paraphernalia.”—a 31-year-old ex-convict who goes by the pseudonym “Zach” in this look into what it’s like to run a sports book in prison.

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ODDS & ENDS