Sharp bettor puts another $522K on Super Bowl

The same bettor who caused Caesars Sportsbook to bump up the Super Bowl line to Rams -4½ after placing a $522,500 wager last week on Los Angeles -4 came back for more.

When Caesars lowered the line to 4 for a few hours Saturday, the gambler made another $522,500 straight bet to win $475,000 on the Rams (-4) over the Cincinnati Bengals in Sunday’s NFL title game.

Caesars vice president of trading Craig Mucklow considers the bettor very sharp.

“He’s highly respected. This guy’s money,” he said. “He moved us back to 4½. We’re going to flip-flop between 4 and 4½ all week.”

The consensus Las Vegas line Monday was 4½, with Treasure Island the only book at 4, though it’s priced at -125.

The South Point is offering -105 juice on both sides all week.

Caesars also took a $400,000 bet to win $200,000 on Monday on the Rams on the money line (-200).

BetMGM took a multiple six-figure wager on the Rams -4 on Jan. 30.

“We are one week away from the Super Bowl and early sharp action has been on the Rams and the under,” BetMGM vice president of trading Jason Scott said. “As the game gets closer, we expect the public will back the Bengals and the over.”

The total is 48½ across the board. Mucklow said Caesars took a $110,000 wager on under 49.

“The under has been so popular with the sharps and the public,” he said.

Westgate SuperBook vice president Jay Kornegay also reported early sharp action on the under.

“Sharp money has only showed up on the total so far. Only in the beginning, they bet under 51 and under 50½,” he said. “They kept ticking it down to 48½. I think that might go back up just a tad as we get to the weekend as most people will play the over.”

A BetMGM bettor placed a $200,000 wager on the Bengals +4½ on Monday. Cincinnati leads the way in tickets at the SuperBook.

“One surprise I see so far is the amount of tickets we have on the Bengals +4½,” Kornegay said. “About 69 percent of the tickets on the spread are on Cincinnati. Normally you would see it the other way around, where the majority of tickets are on the favorite on the spread.

“You would always expect the money line to be favoring the underdog, which is true. Seventy-four percent of tickets on the money line are on the Bengals. That’s normal, but the spread is very interesting.

“Dog money seems to show that the Bengals are appealing to the general public. It’s a little surprising because they’re not really a so-called popular team and they don’t have a huge fan base. But in this matchup, they’re getting a lot of support from the general public. That might change later in the week.”

The action has been pretty balanced at BetMGM in Nevada, where the book has taken 70 more tickets on the Bengals than the Rams ATS and 30 more tickets on the over than the under.

LA leads the money count by a 5-1 margin, but MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback said that margin is skewed by the major wager placed on the Rams.

“If you throw out that one wager, the money is 3-2 on the Rams,” he said.

The Bengals lead the ticket count on the money line, where they’re +175, by a 3-1 margin and lead the money count by a 6-5 ratio.

“Just like every Super Bowl, they’re betting on the ‘dog on the money line,” Stoneback said. “The best-case scenario, like most Super Bowls, is the Rams to win but the Bengals to cover.”

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