Las Vegas sports books recoup some cash on upset NFL Sunday
Bettors followed up one of their best NFL Sundays ever with their top college football Saturday of the season as popular favorites Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame all covered the spread.
But Las Vegas sports books recouped some of their cash Sunday, when the Patriots, Falcons and Chiefs all failed to cover in the morning games.
“It was definitely our worst Saturday of the year,” Westgate sports book vice president Jay Kornegay said. “We were hoping things bounced our way (Sunday), which it did for the most part. I’m not going to call it a monster day, but it was one of the better Sundays so far.”
The Titans whipped New England 34-10 as 6½-point home underdogs and the Browns beat Atlanta 28-16 as 5½-point home ‘dogs to kill countless money-line parlays and teasers.
Tennessee’s outright upset cost a South Point bettor a $10,000 money-line parlay that would’ve paid almost $33,000 on the Patriots (-300), Chiefs (-2,000), Packers (-600), Chargers (-525), Rams (-460) and Saints (-260).
The Patriots generated the highest ticket count of any team all season at Station Casinos sports books. But New England was outplayed in all phases of the game as it fell to 7-3 and saw its chances of earning home-field advantage in the playoffs take a hit.
The Chiefs improved to 9-1 with their 26-14 win over the Cardinals, but never led by more than 13 points after closing as 15½-point favorites.
“The key games in the morning kind of put us over the top,” Caesars Entertainment sports book director Bill Sattler said. “Of course, we didn’t get back what we lost last week but it was a solid day.”
Public goes 3-0 in afternoon
The public swept the board and cashed on the favored Packers and Chargers and underdog Seahawks.
“Those three really prevented us from having a gigantic day,” Kornegay said.
Seattle scored a backdoor cover on Russell Wilson’s TD pass with 1:56 left in a 36-31 loss to the Rams as 9-point underdogs.
The Mirage sports book director Jeff Stoneback, a Washington state native and lifelong Seahawks fan, had mixed emotions when the late score resulted in a loss for his book. The betting public and sharp bettors both backed Seattle.
“It was kind of tough for me as a Seahawks fan when they scored that last touchdown and it turned the game into a loser for us,” Stoneback said. “But we still had a good day.”
Pros, Joes back Pack
The Pros and the Joes also backed the Packers in a big way as the line shot up from 10 to 13. The move paid off as Green Bay beat Miami 31-12.
“Not only was the public on that all day long at minus 10, but sharp money came in late, about 15 to 20 minutes before kickoff,” Stoneback said. “It’s very unusual for sharp money to come in that late on a game, especially on a double-digit favorite.
“Usually, the sharp money is on the ‘dog once the public has driven it up.”
Cowboys burn bettors
Bettors loaded up on the Eagles over the Cowboys on Sunday night. But they weren’t bailed out as Dallas, a 7½-point underdog, dealt Philadelphia a 27-20 loss.
Underdogs went 7-4-1 ATS on Sunday with outright upsets by the Titans, Browns, Bills, Redskins and Cowboys.
SuperContest consensus
The Eagles were the top consensus play in the Westgate SuperContest. The consensus top five was 14-1 the past three weeks before going 2-3 with winners on the Seahawks and Chargers and losers on the Falcons, Patriots and Eagles. The top five is 28-22 on the season.
Personal Gourmet leads the SuperContest with an astonishing 38-11-1 ATS record (77.5 percent) after going 2-2-1 and @Pigskin_Junkies is in second with an equally impressive 38-12 mark after going 3-2.
Notable bets
A Westgate bettor won $60,000 on a wager placed early in the week on the Jaguars at plus 3½. The Colts, who closed as 3-point favorites, pushed for most bettors in a 29-26 win over Jacksonville when they recovered a fumble at their 23 with 1:35 left. But Indianapolis led 29-13 and Adam Vinatieri missed a 52-yard FG with 2:58 left that would’ve put it up by six.
An MGM Resorts bettor in Mississippi won a six-figure wager on the Bears and an MGM gambler in Nevada won a six-figure bet on the Chargers.
No word if a South Point bettor won the $5 three-team parlay he paid for Sunday at the counter in quarters.
“I guess if you want to play you are going to play even if that is all that is left in your kick,” inimitable South Point oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro posted on Twitter. “But we all have been there.”
Here’s hoping the gambler hit a Titans-Browns-Cowboys money line parlay at 40-1.
More betting: Follow online at reviewjournal.com/betting and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
