The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets have not even stepped on the court yet, but the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas is already cashing out bets in favor of the Warriors.
According to a Nugget sportsbook general manager, by way of ESPN's David Purdum, if you are one of those fans who already placed your bets on the stacked defending champions and have a good feeling that they will repeat, you can claim your money this early.
Strange, considering that Tilman Fertitta =- owner of the Houston Rockets — also owns that casino and you would hope he has some faith on his red hot club and would-be usurpers of the Bay Area monopoly.
But that is precisely the reason why it is working out that way. Tony Miller made an appearance on the Vegas Stats and Information Network to try and set the record straight as best as he can.
“It's crazy. Two great teams in the Western Conference finals, and we're doing more explaining every day than anything else. How can I frame this so it's not going to get me in trouble?”
In a nutshell, Nevada sportsbooks are not allowed to accept bets on teams that are associated with the ownership due to conflict of interest. As a result, the Nugget could only accept bets made for the Warriors and not the Rockets, making them the “winner” by default.
Consequently, if the Rockets manage to advance past the Conference Finals, either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Boston Celtics would be deemed the winner.
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