ODDS AND ENDS: Floyd not perfect after all
As a professional boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is 43-0. As a professional sports bettor of sorts, he finally admitted to his first defeat.
Mayweather has earned a reputation for posting photos of only winning tickets on his Twitter account @FloydMayweather. Last weekend, however, he shared a rare photo of a lost wager.
"I lost $100,000 on Detroit Lions 1st half," Mayweather tweeted Sunday after the favored Lions went into halftime trailing the St. Louis Rams.
Mayweather placed the bet at the Cantor Gaming sports book at M Resort, where "Money" has an account and is a major player. He also tweeted winning NFL wagers for $100,000 on New England and San Diego.
Another tweet: "I bet $250,000 on the Atlanta Falcons. Looks like easy money…" Indeed, the Falcons, 3-point favorites, easily beat Kansas City, 40-24.
Reports of large Mayweather wagers spread rapidly on Twitter, but many are never confirmed. Mayweather dismissed as a "rumor" a $3 million bet he supposedly made on Michigan as a 14-point underdog to Alabama on Sept. 1.
Cantor sports book director Mike Colbert is asked often about Floyd’s action.
"Floyd has a lot of people interested in him," Colbert said. "He posts his tickets for everybody to see, and when you see a ticket for $250,000, it’s fascinating."
BY THE NUMBERS
$400,000 – The largest bet placed last weekend at Cantor Gaming, according to Colbert. The wager on the Pittsburgh Steelers, as 1½-point underdogs, was a loser as the Steelers lost to the Denver Broncos, 31-19.
105 – Points scored in Louisiana Tech’s 56-49 victory over Houston. It was the highest-scoring college game of the week.
85 – The most lopsided wagering in Week 1 of the NFL season was on the New England-Tennessee game, according to Bovada.lv, which reported its book took more than 85 percent of the action on the Patriots, who were 6-point favorites in their 34-13 win.
55½ – Point spread covered by Texas Christian in its 56-0 victory over Grambling.
TRENDING
Notes from handicapper Bruce Marshall of GoldSheet.com:
Washington State at UNLV – The Rebels are 8-2 against the spread (ATS) as home underdogs for coach Bobby Hauck.
Brigham Young at Utah – The Cougars are 8-1 ATS in their past nine games.
Utah State at Wisconsin – The Badgers are 2-7-1 ATS in their past 10 games.
Western Kentucky at Kentucky – The Hilltoppers have covered 11 consecutive games.
New Orleans at Carolina – The Panthers have covered eight of the past 11 meetings. The Saints are 3-7 ATS in their past 10 as road favorites.
Baltimore at Philadelphia – The Eagles are 4-7 ATS in their past 11 home games.
Oakland at Miami – Counting the preseason, the Dolphins are 0-5 ATS. The Raiders are 7-2 ATS in their past nine on the road.
New York Jets at Pittsburgh – The Jets are 2-6-1 ATS in their past nine road games. The Steelers are 10-4 ATS in their past 14 home games.
TWITTER CHATTER
Betting tweets from the past week:
@LVSuperBook
– SuperContest update: 10 contestants went 5-0 in Week 1. Great start. On the flip side 27 went 0-5.
@WagerMinds
– People pay $1500 to be in the (LVH) SuperContest but the field performs worse than monkeys flipping coins.
– With Tom Brady at quarterback, the Patriots are 27-2 (straight up) as double-digit home favorites but only 12-16 ATS.
@Covers
– Pass interference calls from replacement refs gave value to ‘over’ bettors in Week 1.
@beyondthebets
– Prediction for what will be the most popular NFL bet in Week 2: Redskins -3 at St. Louis.
@DavidPurdum
– Alabama is favored for the 29th consecutive game and 43rd of last 44. USC was favored in 58 straight from ’03-’07.
COMPILED BY MATT YOUMANS LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
