Caesar's Better Bettor: Odds heavy at local sportsbooks that Blues will miss playoffs again

The NHL season is just starting to hum, and the oddsmakers don't think much of the Blues' chances.

They opened their season Thursday night with an overtime loss in Dallas and came out of that contest with odds to win the Stanley Cup as high as 80-1 among the three area walk-in sportsbooks. That was the number Friday at DraftKings (Casino Queen in St. Louis). That shop also had the longest odds on the Blues being the Western Conference's representative in the Cup Final (40-1) as well as being the regular-season champ in the Central Division (30-1).

In addition DraftKings had the highest price in the area (200-1) on the Blues to win the Presidents Trophy, which goes to the team that finishes with the most points in the regular season.

The Blues were 37-38-1 last season for 81 points, their fewest in a decade for a season other than the 2020-21 pandemic-shortened campaign, and they missed the playoffs for just the second time in 11 years.

And the odds are heavy they will miss Lord Stanley's tournament again, at least according DraftKings' linemakers. A bettor there would have to risk $265 to try to win $100 if they want to bet that the Blues will be on the sidelines again come playoff time. Conversely, a successful $100 wager on them making the postseason field would return a profit of $210.

The price wasn't as steep at FanDuel (horse racing track in Collinsville), where "no" on the Blues making the playoffs was at -215  and "yes" was at +164. The bet was not available Friday afternoon at the other local shop, Barstool (Argosy Casino in Alton).

Before the season began, only one of the area books included a Blue in its listing of odds on players to score the most goals in the league this season. DraftKings had Jordan Kyrou at 150-1. No Blue was included among the 56 on which Barstool offered prices and none were on the 45 put on the board by FanDuel.

Dog days

The underdogs have been barking loudly in the baseball postseason.

The lower-seeded team won half the wild-card series then bit even harder in the division-series round, winning three of the four matchups.

Out not only are all the teams that won 100 regular-season games (the Braves, Orioles and Dodgers), but also on the sidelines are the two other clubs that won more than 90 games — the Rays and Brewers.

How improbable is all of this? Let's look at the numbers from the vegasinsider.com website, which cites lines that were available at FanDuel:

• The Diamondbacks finished 16 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West Division and LA came into the teams' divisional series as a 2-1 favorite. But Arizona romped, returning $160 for every $100 risked. The pre-series odds of a D'backs sweep, which they accomplished, was 12-1.

• The Phillies finished 14 games behind the Braves in the NL East this season but rocked them 3-1 in the divisional round. Philadelphia prevailed at pre-series odds of +164 (Atlanta was -194). Picking the Phils to win in four games returned $540 for each $100 risked.

• The Orioles won 10 more games than the Rangers in the regular season, but their American League divisional series matchup was a tossup from a betting standpoint — one would have to risk $110 to try to win $100 on either side. But it was a blowout by the lower-seeded team, which swept the series. The odds of Texas doing that were +710.

The only favorite to win in the divisional round was the Astros, who began their matchup with the Twins as the -150 choice. They won in four games, and the odds on that happening were +390.

Baseball bonanza

After all the mayhem in the MLB playoffs to date, they're down to the final four teams standing and on Friday afternoon all three area books had Houston as the favorite to repeat despite just a 90-win regular season. The best price among those houses for those wanting to plunk down a few bucks on the Astros was +185, at DraftKings and FanDuel.

The all had Philadelphia as the second choice (best price was +200 at FanDuel), followed by Texas (+300 at Barstool and FanDuel), with Arizona (+485 at Barstool) being the longshot.

Upcoming picks

We were 2-1 with our selections last week and even on units, leaving our record for the season at 7-10-1 and down nine units. We’re back at it this week with picks that can range from one unit (•) to five (•••••). Odds listed are the most favorable among the local sportsbooks as of Friday afternoon:

> Iowa State at Cincinnati, 11 a.m. Saturday: You can take trends at face value, because as they say in the investment business past results aren't necessarily indicators of future outcomes. But here is an interesting one, per the Sports Book Breakers website: The under has come in 21 straight times in games in which Iowa State is an underdog of less than seven points. The Cyclones are a dog of five in this one, so why not ride the bandwagon? Neither team is dynamically offensively and it is forecast to be windy. Game total under 42½ points (Barstool) ••

> Oregon at Washington, 2:30 p.m. Saturday: A dandy matchup of undefeated clubs is set for what could be nearly ideal conditions in Seattle for a shootout. Rain in the morning is supposed to give way to overcast skies by kickoff time, which all but eliminates the possibility of receivers losing the ball in the sunlight. The wind is forecast to be light, thus not affecting the passing and kicking games. On top of that, two of the nation's top quarterbacks will be playing, and each (Oregon's Bo Nix and Washington's Michael Penix Jr.) average three TD passes per game. The host Huskies have the nation's top-ranked passing attack (446.4 yards/game) and the Ducks are No. 10 (330.6), and both teams average at least 46 points per contest. Oregon's defense is formidable, ranking sixth nationally in yards allowed (255.6 per game), but has not been tested much and Washington will give that unit a workout. The Huskies' "D" ranks 62nd in yards allowed. All the ingredients are here for a wild one. Game total over 66½ points (Barstool, FanDuel) •••

> We'll also take a shot at a same-game parlay on this one, a bet that allows for the lines to be manipulated — of course at different odds from the standard numbers, and all legs must hit in order to win. This one returns even money: Game total over 63 points, Nix to throw for at least 250 yards and Penix to throw for at least 300 yards. (DraftKings)••

> Auburn at Louisiana State, 6 p.m. Saturday: Yeah, we know the LSU defense is bad but it did step up in the late stages last week to allow the Tigers to hold on against Missouri. Auburn is averaging just 14.7 points against Power Five foes and LSU's potent offense should be able to produce enough against a so-so Auburn "D" to cover the spread on a night with ideal weather predicted. LSU -11 (Barstool)•

> Ravens vs. Titans, 8:30 a.m. Sunday: These middle-of-the-pack clubs meet in London, and travel schedules could have a big impact here. The Ravens crossed the Atlantic on Monday, whereas the Titans didn't go until Friday. The time to adjust could be key, plus Baltimore has the better overall team though it has underperformed at times this year. Look for the Ravens to put the Titans in a London fog. Ravens -4 (DraftKings, FanDuel)•