What Are The Odds?

No, I won't be spending the next week and a half posting the various odds from the various Sportsbooks in Vegas. I did however feel that this was a worthy update because after paying a visit to the Excalibur Sportsbook last night, they not only had a printout of the current odds (as of this past Monday) but what the opening odds were on June 19th, 2006.

The Caps, the Penguin Scum, and Blackhawks all opened at 75-1. One team has dropped their odds significantly, while another is the same, and the one other increased their odds. It should be obvious that the Penguin Scum have dropped, their odds are now inexplicably 30-1. But if you thought that the Blackhawks odds increased, you would be wrong. Nope, they're still 75-1 it is the Caps who have seen their odds increase, the Caps are now 85-1 at the Excalibur.

(I almost asked the guy behind the counter if they had a line on the Penguin Scum moving and where to, but considering my experience with the employees behind the counter at Sportsbooks, I knew it wouldn't produce much in the way of a result.)

The Flyers who opened at 12-1 are now giving new meaning to the term "sunk cost" for thier early bettors by dropping to 60-1. Phoenix who somehow opened at 40-1 can thank Jeremey Roenick for leading them to 100-1. The Kings have dropped big time as well, they opened at 25-1 and are now 99-1. (So much for the local pride...) What makes this so interesting though is the wild differences in odds at the Excalibur compared to the Orleans.

For the informational purposes of Dan Steinberg and his Local College Hoops poll voters, the Georgetown Whats? opened up at 18-1 and have increased to 25-1. The Terps opened at 70-1 and have dropped to 40-1. Virginia opened at 150-1 and has dropped to 80-1. George Washington is at their opening line of 200-1. You could say that George Mason is 12-1 but that would be only because Mason is lumped into the field with all the other teams from outside the Power Conferences. The favorite right now is Ohio State at 7-2.

And there was also a printout of the World Series odds. The Nats opened at 200-1 on October 25th, 2006 and are still there. They're 100-1 to win the NLCS. The interesting thing of note on that sheet is that nobody has improved their odds so far as the Chicago Cubs have. The Cubs opened at 75-1 to reverse their curse and are now 8-1. They were 25-1 to win the NLCS and are now 4-1. I guess you could call it the Soriano effect...

Anyway, just like yesterday, here's a complete rundown of the current (as of December 18th, 2006) Stanley Cup odds from the Excalibur Sportsbook. This of course is for entertainment and comparative purposes only and the opening odds (June 19th, 2006) are in the parentheses.

Anaheim Ducks 5-1 (15-1)
Buffaslugs 5-1 (12-1)
San Jose 5-1 (10-1)
Detroit Red Wings 6-1 (6-1)
Ottawa Senators 6-1 (5-1)
Carolina Hurricanes 8-1 (8-1)
Dallas Stars 8-1 (10-1)
Calgary Flames 10-1 (12-1)
New Jersey Devils 11-1 (8-1)
Montreal Canadiens 15-1 (20-1)
Nashville Predators 15-1 (18-1)
New York Rangers 15-1 (15-1)
Edmonton Oilers 18-1 (15-1)
Atlanta Thrashers 22-1 (30-1)
Colorado Avalanche 25-1 (18-1)
Minnesota Wild 25-1 (50-1)
Tampa Bay Lightning 25-1 (20-1)
Toronto Maple Leafs 25-1 (25-1)
Penguin Scum 30-1 (75-1)
New York Islanders 35-1 (50-1)
Vancouver Canucks 45-1 (20-1)
Boston Bruins 50-1 (50-1)
Columbus Blue Jackets 50-1 (50-1)
Chicago Blackhawks 75-1 (75-1)
Florida Panthers 80-1 (40-1) (The Todd Bertuzzi effect)
Washington Capitals 85-1 (75-1)
Los Angeles Kings 99-1 (25-1)
Phoenix Coyotes 100-1 (40-1)
St. Louis Blues 100-1 (100-1)

Now go discuss amongst yourselves...