- Nevada sportsbooks had a very good Sunday with underdogs going 8-4 ATS with six outright wins.
- Last Sunday was one of the worst NFL days of the season for Nevada sportsbooks.
- Sportsbooks have alternated winning and losing NFL Sunday’s since early October.
Last Sunday, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported that the city’s sportsbooks had suffered their worst NFL loss of the season. That setback came on the heels of the previous week when Sin City’s bookmakers enjoyed their best Sunday of the NFL season.
To paraphrase Brad Pitt in the classic film Oceans Eleven referring to Las Vegas ‘in this town your luck can change just that fast’. The first Sunday of November saw Las Vegas sportsbooks back in the black with a big winning day. Both the Las Vegas Review Journal and VSIN quoted bookmakers reporting big winning numbers as underdogs went 8-4 against the spread with six outright winners.
The public was a big loser on the Green Bay Packers who dropped a 28-22 decision to the Minnesota Vikings as -6 point home favorites and the Tennessee Titans who lost outright to the Cincinnati Bengals 31-20 as -7 point road favorites. The Bengals had opened as a -4 point road chalk. Westgate sportsbook vice president Jay Kornegay told the RJ that the Vikings was the decision that made the day:
“The Vikings beating the Packers was probably our best decision of the season. They basically had the Packers across the board, in teasers and money-line parlays.”
Kornegay notes that the NFL has been especially challenging this season due in part to all of the problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic:
“The NFL has been very difficult to handicap this year. It usually is but especially this year. Teams have taken on different personalities. There’s the COVID factor, with some teams missing practices. It’s been very difficult.”
MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback said simply:
“It was our best day of the year.”
Over at VSIN, the bookmakers they spoke with echoed many of the same themes involving the significance of the Vikings and Bengals winning starting with South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews:
“The Titans [losing] was the biggest result for us. We had money on Vikings, but moneyline and teasers on Packers helped.”
VSIN reports that 80% of the handle at BetRivers was on Tennessee along with 91% of moneyline action. It also helped the Borgata in Atlantic City who had the Titans on the moneyline as part of a $105,000 four team parlay that didn’t cash. The Viking/Packers game was also a great result for the books–at William Hill 91% of bets and 91% of handle was on Green Bay. That pleased William Hill director of trading Nick Bogdanovich:
“It was a good day. Titans and Packers losing were the best results.”
Station Casinos sportsbook director Chuck Esposito’s shop also had a profitable Sunday:
“We did extremely well on the morning games. There were five outright dog winners and six out of eight dogs covered. The two largest we needed were the Vikings and Bengals, but we also did well to the Pats and Dolphins.”
The RJ reports that a MGM bettor lost a six figure wager on Baltimore as Pittsburgh won 28-24 as +4 underdogs. The public got some back on the Sunday Night Game though it was a sweat–VSIN reports a bettor at PointsBet wagered $270,000 at -270 odds on the Eagles first-quarter moneyline. Philadelphia scored with :02 left in the first quarter and the bet cashed. The Eagles win gave the public a late boost, at least at the Borgata where 83% of the tickets and 85% of the money was on Philadelphia. The Eagles won 23-9 and covered as a -10 home favorite.
