Kobalt 400 Line Report
March is a HUGE month in Vegas when it comes to sports. Most fans know about the influx of tourists headed here for the NCAA tourney’s opening weekend but with the addition of 373 conference tournaments (or so it feels like) the hoops energy cranks up even sooner. However, the real start of the March sports calendar gets into high gear this weekend when NASCAR invades Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Xfinity race on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday. The passionate fans arrival isn’t lost on bookmakers who usually try to throw up a few more betting options to accommodate the increased betting handle. Influx of recreational bettors also creates opportunities for certain sports books to inflate their hold and capitalize on those less conscientious shoppers. Here’s a look at the opening prices hung at MGM/Mirage compared to the numbers used at Westgate Superbook.
Dale Jr fans will be the first to notice that shopping around this weekend will benefit them as much as anyone. I would include Danica believers on this list because they’ll see massive price disparities but I can’t really condone betting the 10 as a worthwhile investment.
| Driver | LVH | MGM/Mirage |
| Harvick | 9-2 | 4 |
| Johnson | 6 | 7 |
| Gordon | 7 | 7 |
| Earnhardt | 8 | 9-2 |
| Keselowski | 8 | 6 |
| Logano | 8 | 6 |
| Kenseth | 8 | 10 |
| Edwards | 10 | 10 |
| Kahne | 12 | 15 |
| Hamlin | 15 | 12 |
| Larson | 25 | 12 |
| Newman | 30 | 30 |
| McMurray | 40 | 20 |
| Stewart | 40 | 20 |
| Bowyer | 40 | 30 |
| Ragan | 40 | 30 |
| Truex | 40 | 50 |
| Vickers | 60 | 75 |
| Menard | 60 | 50 |
| Dillon | 100 | 50 |
| Biffle | 100 | 30 |
| Smith | 100 | 50 |
| Almendinger | 200 | 100 |
| Almirola | 200 | 85 |
| Patrick | 300 | 50 |
| Bayne | 300 | 75 |
| Stenhouse | 300 | 75 |
| Hornish | 300 | 85 |
| Mears | 500 | 85 |
| Field | 300 | 30 |
| Whitt | N/A | 150 |
| Guaghan | N/A | 200 |
| Hold | 29% | 43% |
For those unfamiliar with the last line labeled “hold” that is the implied percentage of every dollar the casino makes as profit. The higher the hold generally the worse the bet for gamblers but do realize there can still be certain drivers available at better odds even if the market as a whole offers less value.
