Bettors win big on Cowboys but Las Vegas books still prevail
A William Hill sportsbook bettor lost a $220,000 straight bet on the Redskins, who were defeated 31-21 by the Cowboys on Sunday as 6-point home underdogs.
But the game was still the book’s biggest loser of the day as the betting public was all over Dallas. The Cowboys also dealt MGM Resorts its worst loss — in the mid six figures — and several other books reported Dallas as one of the day’s biggest losers.
“We were destroyed with the Cowboys,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said. “The Cowboys are America’s Team.”
The books also lost big on the team that America loves to hate in New England. But the public also loves to bet on the Patriots, who easily covered the 18½-point spread in a 43-0 road rout of the hapless Miami Dolphins.
The monster spread did little to deter the public from loading up on New England.
“It slowed them down during the week but (Saturday) night and (Sunday), the floodgates opened,” Boyd Gaming sportsbook vice president Bob Scucci said. “It was all Patriots. I’m afraid to book any more Miami games the rest of the season. I’ve never seen such an anemic offense before.”
Dolphins huge underdogs at Dallas
The Cowboys opened as 20½-point home favorites over the Dolphins in Week 3 as oddsmakers look for the right number to attract any action on Miami.
“We were talking about 20 when the market was at 16½ or so and laughing about it,” CG Technology sportsbook director Tony DiTommaso said. “But who’s going to bet on that team? You know everybody’s going to be on the Cowboys.”
Multiple books have props on a winless season by the Dolphins and a perfect season by the Patriots. But Boyd Gaming plans to post a prop on New England wins vs. Miami losses.
“I’d make the Dolphins the favorite to have more losses than the Patriots have wins,” Scucci said.
By the way, New England opened as a 17½-point home favorite over the New York Jets. So much for parity in the NFL.
Bettors also cashed their tickets on the Kansas City Chiefs, who exploded for 28 second-quarter points on four Patrick Mahomes touchdown passes to easily cover the 7-point spread in a 28-10 road win over the Oakland Raiders.
Books still come out on top
“We ended up a small winner, but if you’d told me before the day started that the Chiefs, Patriots and Cowboys were all going to cover and we were still able to make money, I would’ve said you were crazy,” Scucci said. “They were the biggest parlay games, in terms of number of tickets written. We were just buried on all three of those games.”
Six-figure decisions
CG Technology went 1-3 on six-figure decisions, losing on the Patriots, Chiefs and 49ers — who blew out the Bengals 41-17 in Cincinnati — and winning on the Broncos.
Denver, a 3-point home underdog, rallied for a backdoor cover in a 16-14 loss to the Bears. Joe Flacco converted a fourth-and-10 and fourth-and-3 with passes to Courtland Sutton, then connected with Emmanuel Sanders for a 7-yard TD pass and two-point conversion for a 14-13 lead with 31 seconds left. Chicago won it on Eddy Pineiro’s 53-yard field goal as time expired.
Underdogs and under
Including Tampa Bay’s 20-14 upset of Carolina on Thursday night, underdogs are 9-6 ATS with six outright upsets in Week 2. The Seahawks, Colts, Lions, 49ers and Falcons joined the Buccaneers in pulling off upsets. Unders are 12-3.
MGM Resorts bettors lost a $115,000 straight bet on the Panthers and a $115,000 straight bet on the Steelers, who fell 28-26 to Seattle.
The Cardinals, who covered as 13-point underdogs in a 23-17 loss to the Ravens, were one of the biggest winners for the books. Baltimore still had a chance to salvage a push on third-and-1 at the Arizona 6 with two minutes left. Mark Ingram rushed for only 1 yard to pick up the first down and didn’t score, and the Ravens ran out the clock.
“The difference between that one play would’ve turned the entire day around,” Scucci said. “We wouldn’t have been able to get out from under all the parlays.”
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Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.