Stevens nets $23,000

Derek Stevens didn’t cash his $1 million ticket on Michigan, but the Las Vegas casino owner still came out on top on his wagers Monday night and for the NCAA Tournament.

Stevens, who owns the D Las Vegas and the Golden Gate, lost his $25,000 futures bet on the Wolverines placed at the Golden Nugget when Michigan was defeated 79-62 by Villanova in the NCAA title game. But he won $100,000 on a $330,000 hedge bet he placed on the Wildcats on the money line earlier Monday at William Hill sports book.

Minus the $52,000 in hedge bets he lost on Loyola-chicago in the Wolverines’ win on Saturday and Stevens ended up with a net profit of $23,000.

The Michigan grad also won $16,000 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament — when he went 17-14-2 on 33 $11,000 wagers — bringing his total tournament winnings to $39,000. Todd Dewey nine days of the NCAA Tournament to outlast a field of 2,525 entries. The contest cost $25 per entry or five for $100.

Fittingly, the field was whittled down to four for the Final Four. Dave Tuley of Vsin.com was one of the final four contestants, but lost his pick of Kansas plus 5½ points in Saturday’s national semifinals.

According to Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito, it was only the second time since 2007 that the contest wasn’t decided by the tiebreaker, which is the national champion pick.

Joshua-wilder odds

The Westgate opened Anthony Joshua as a minus-200 favorite over Deontay Wilder (plus-170) in a potential heavyweight boxing match. The fight must take place before Dec. 31, 2019 for action.

Joshua won his fourth world title Saturday night in beating Joseph Parker by unanimous decision.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.