49ers Fan Turns to Soccer at a Las Vegas Sports Book to Fund a Trip to Candlestick Park
The 49ers will be playing their last season in Candlestick Park as their new stadium in Santa Clara nears completion for use starting in 2014. The pilgrimage for a 49er fan living outside the Bay Area is especially poignant this year. The historic yet outdated Candlestick Park (I watched a Dodger vs SF Giants game there in the early 90s and it was already showing its wear then) will host its final season of 49ers football this year. It will be the last chance for 49ers fans to experience a game in this historic stadium.
My younger brother, a huge 49ers fan living in Southern California, took a trip to Las Vegas over 4th of July weekend with some friends – we will refer to my brother as KG for this story. As a college student who works part time, trips like these are few and far between for KG – cheap accommodations split between him and a few other buddies at a 3-star Vegas hotel and maximizing the meal at the buffet was in order to make a trip like this work from a money perspective. As far as the gambling budget went, KG had an $80 bankroll as he arrived in Sin City – an $80 bankroll he hoped to parlay into several hundred. The goal was to make some cash in order to help pay for a trip to the bay area later in the year to watch his 49ers play in historic Candlestick Park before moving to their new digs in Santa Clara.
July 4th weekend in Las Vegas is known for fireworks and the hot summer weather that optimizes the pool scene at many of the resorts in town. As far as the action in the sports book? Well, not that hot and heavy this time of year. Sure, MLB is rolling along and the summer horse racing season at tracks around the country is in full swing, but that’s about it. Football is king when it comes to sports betting in Las Vegas – there is no pigskin action for a couple of months and March Madness is but a memory this time of the year.
KG’s plan was to gamble a bit and see if he could hit something that would get him close to his goal of $700 that would pay for a bay area trip to watch the 49ers close out Candlestick Park (game tickets, food hotel, fuel, etc.). So, would it be video poker? A lucky run rolling the dice at the craps table perhaps? No, it was a $10 sports book bet at New York New York that would do most of the damage. A 2-team parlay wager consisting of Martinique +650 and Panama +550 in CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer returning a whopping 47-1 (that’s $47 for every $1 bet) if both teams pulled off upset wins in their respective soccer matches.
Martinique, a Caribbean nation with a population equal to Omaha Nebraska, pulled off a stunning last second goal to shock Canada 1-0 and later in the afternoon, Panama upset Mexico at the Rose Bowl by a 2-1 margin. KG mentioned that when Martinique scored, he jumped out of his sports book seat and gave a yell, prompting the folks taking in games and horse racing at The Bellagio sports book to stare at him and then turn their attention to the monitors to see what the fuss was about – undoubtedly, the reaction was “this guy has action on a Gold Cup soccer match between Canada and Martinique?”
KG cashed $478 on the $10 parlay bet. In addition to that, a couple of baseball parlay bets made earlier in the day (with some help on an underdog play on the Indians from The Vegas Parlay Free Pick Page) also netted $164 – a grand total of $642, all of which will be going to fund the now almost-paid-for road trip to the bay area to watch his beloved 49ers. Gotta love sports betting.
Goes to show that no matter the time of year, there is always something for the sports fan to get action on at a Las Vegas sports book.
Thanks for checking out The Vegas Parlay – The Las Vegas Sports Book Blog. connect with us on Twitter @sportsbooktom or via The Vegas Parlay Facebook Page.
Treasure Island a Hidden Gem for Sports Bettors
Best Sports Books for Free Drinks
Best Sports Book Food – The Strip
The Vegas Parlay Free Pick Page
No off-season for Las Vegas sports books
The Vegas Parlay’s Top 5 Las Vegas Sports Books for 2013
The Best Place to Watch Football in Vegas: LVH’s Football Central from The Vegas Parlay
10 Non-Smoking Las Vegas Sports Books
Speak Your Mind