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Bettors capture Week 8 win

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
4 minute read
The World Series wrapped up Sunday and all the futures posted, which were up at most books since last October, finalized. Lots of time and lots of cash wagered out there in the World Series over the last year, but while the Dodgers and Red Sox were popular wagers, they were two of the favorites coming in which means the books absorbed those short losses easily and showed a big win which in turn helped ease the pain for most in NFL Week 8 action where the public did some damage.

"Crummy day," said Atlantis Reno sports book director Marc Nelson prior to the Red Sox 5-1 win at Dodger Stadium. "That Rams guy not scoring was the kicker. That (score) would have saved a lot."

That Rams guy was running back Todd Gurley who busted loose with 1:05 to go for an what would have been an easy 21-yard touchdown, but he chose to down the ball at the Packers 4-yard-line instead once he got the first down. At the time the Rams were up 29-27, and a TD and extra-point would have made it a nine-point game. The spread dropped from Rams -9.5 to -8, and the Packers backers all got there. The total also stayed 'under' 57 because he didn't score.

It was kind of surprising to see the public flip on a 7-0 Rams squad.

"Yeah, a little bit," said Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook VP Jay Kornegay, "but it took Aaron Rodgers and the Packers for them to flip-flop."

Nelson had another storm brewing at his Reno book in the Sunday night NFL game as well.

"The Sunday night game we lose every way," Nelson said of all four possible outcomes. "The Saints and Over is the worst and Viking money-line and Under are the best."

The Saints would go on to win 30-20 at Minnesota, their sixth win in a row.

"It was a bad day," said CG Technology VP of risk management Jason Simbal. "We're down six figures no matter what happens in the Sunday night game because of parlays."

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins went 31-of-41 for 359 yards with 2 TDs while Drew Brees threw his first interception of the season and had just 120 yards passing.

"It was a small loser on the day," said MGM Resorts VP of race and sports Jay Rood. "We need the Vikings to cut the loss in half."

The real story to most of the books losing before the Packers and Saints wins was the makings of the storm with other popular teams.

"The day wasn't good," said Station Casinos race and sports director Jason McCormick. "The combo of favorites like the Bears, Steelers, Eagles, Redskins, and Colts was bad. Lots of sharp Packers money as well."

The Bears (-7) won 24-10 against a banged up Jets squad, the Steelers (-8) rolled 33-18 against the Browns, The Eagles (-3) won 24-18 against the Jaguars at London early in the morning, the Redskins (-1) won 20-13 at the Giants and the Colts (-3.5) scored twice late to win 42-28 at Oakland. The bettors do well again simply by betting against bad teams like the Raiders and Giants.

"Thank goodness for the Cardinals win and the Broncos second backdoor cover against the Chiefs or it would have been a disaster," said McCormick.

The Cardinals (+3) beat the 49ers for the second time this season, 18-15, and the Broncos kicked a late field goal to make it 30-23 to pull within a TD at Kansas City. The Chiefs dropped from -10 to -8 by kickoff. It was the first time this season the Chiefs failed to cover the spread.

"We had another average day and split the top decisions," said Kornegay. "Our big losers were the Bears, Colts, and Packers. But our big winners were the Broncos, Panthers, and Cardinals."

William Hill's head [...] Nick Bogdanovich said they had a horrible day in the NFL, but the lone survivor in Week 8 action that fared extremely well was the Caesars Palace chain of properties.

"Solid winning NFL Sunday -- times two -- thanks to Red Sox future money," said Caesars Palace senior oddsmaker Alan Berg. "The best games for us were the Saints, Cardinals, and Panthers and our biggest losers were the Colts, Bears, and Steelers."

The big divide here looks to be books that have huge parlay action, mostly those on the outskirts and neighborhoods catering to locals, against the strip properties which deal mostly with tourists and wise guys.

Anyway, bettors are on an NFL roll lately. Keep it up!

Roberts is a former Las Vegas sports book director that has been covering the sports betting industry for the last 14 years.

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