Professional Hockey Player in Championship Playoff Game

2023 Hockey Playoffs Bring Potential Longshot Bet Payoffs

May 31, 2023 | Aaron Oster | , , ,

Sometimes in sports, things fall the way they’re supposed to. When Philadelphia met Kansas City in football this February, that was an expected outcome. When Golden State met Boston in basketball last year, nobody batted an eye. However, sometimes in sports, you get a true outlier to make a run. And that’s what we’re seeing in hockey this year as the 2023 NHL playoffs head to the finals with the Florida Panthers vs the Vegas Golden Knights.

 

Panthers 2023 NHL Playoffs Run

 

Florida’s run through the playoffs has been surprising, and has led to the possibility of some incredible longshot bets to come through. They opened the playoffs at +2800 to win it all. After falling behind Boston 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs, you could have bought a ticket on them to win the Cup at +17500. To put that into context, that’s a 0.57% chance of happening. Since then, though, their odds just continuously fell. On April 29, they were down to +2600. By May 1 they were at +1075. By May 5 it was +470.

Here’s a look at their history this season:

April 15: +280
April 18: +5000
April 20: +2700
April 22: +5000
April 25: +17500
April 27: +6500
April 29: +2600
May 2: +1095
May 3: +700
May 8: +370
May 13: +325
May 19: +235
May 20: +150
May 23: +115

Florida was an underdog going into every series. They were +290 at the start of the Boston series…and that reached as high as +1850 when they fell behind 3-1. They were +150 to open the series against Toronto, and +105 against Carolina.

 

Golden Knights 2023 NHL Playoffs Run

 

Meanwhile, Vegas was never considered to be that big a longshot. They were favorites in two of their three series, just being a +150 underdog to open the series against Edmonton.

Here’s a look at their history this season:

April 15: +1095
April 19: +2100
April 22: +1400
April 25: +850
May 1: +780
May 4: +540
May 7: +925
May 9: +495
May 11: +700
May 13: +430
May 15: +240
May 23: -105

 

Friends Watching NHL Playoffs at Circa Sports®

 

Betting the NHL Playoffs at Circa Sports

 

At the beginning of the NHL playoffs, Circa Sports put up exacta bets on the exact finish of the championship. The two possible remaining outcomes were incredible longshots. “Knights defeat Panthers” was +18600. Those were the second-longest of any exact-result bets for Vegas to win. “Panthers defeat Knights” was +17700. 

Right now, here are the current prices for the Cup from Circa Sports. For once, Florida isn’t that big of an underdog, the smallest dog they’ve been so far throughout the playoffs.

Florida +102
Vegas -122

If you take a look at the specific game breakdown though, despite Vegas only being a slight favorite to win the series, three of the top four exact results end up with Vegas winning, with the favorite being Vegas winning in seven games.

Florida 4-0 +1425
Florida 4-1 +725
Florida 4-2 +450
Florida 4-3 +540
Vegas 4-0 +1155
Vegas 4-1 +540
Vegas 4-2 +525
Vegas 4-3 +425

 

Watching the NHL Playoffs

 

Here is the schedule for the final games of the 2023 NHL playoff series:

June 3: Florida at Vegas
June 5: Florida at Vegas
June 8: Vegas at Florida
June 10: Vegas at Florida
June 13: Florida at Vegas
June 16: Vegas at Florida
June 19: Florida at Vegas

 

While the action might be happening on the ice, if you can’t make it to the game in person, the best place to catch the game is at Circa Stadium Swim® at Circa Resort and Casino. You can catch the NHL playoffs poolside, where you’ll catch some extra excitement from the locals cheering on the Golden Knights. Whichever team you’re cheering on, don’t forget to place your bets at one of the Circa Sports locations or on the sports betting app.

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