Week 17 a wash for Books

The NFL packed all 16 games of Week 17 into a nice little Sunday package with playoff berths on the line and while the day was packed with drama, it didn't translate into a winning day for most sports books.
 
"It's just okay, and it won't be very good no matter what happens in the late game," said South Point sports book director Chris Andrews.
 
William Hill's top [...] Nick Bogdanovich said their Sunday "looks like a wash."   
 
"Good results thus far," Wynn sports book director Doug Castaneda said prior to the Sunday night kickoff.

"The Lions and Browns were good games for us. This whole day hinges on the Sunday night match-up and we need the Titans. It's our biggest Sunday night football decision we've had this season."
 
Biggest decision? Wow. No specific figures, but my guess would be close to $400,000 in risk with the clientele Wynn has. 
 
The Lions (+7.5) went into Green Bay and won 31-0 and the Browns (+6) got the cover at Baltimore in a 26-24 loss.
 
"If the Colts cover it's going to be a losing day," said Station Casinos sports book director Jason McCormick.

The Colts won at Tennessee, 33-17, to cap off a great season. After starting 1-5, the Colts won nine of their last 10 games (6-3-1 ATS) and will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Up first for the Colts will be a visit to division rival Houston, who they split with in two previous meetings, a 37-34 loss in Week 4 and a 24-21 win at Houston in Week 14. The Texans are a 2.5-point favorite in Saturday's Wild Card meeting.
 
"No good," said CG Technology VP of risk management Jason Simbal regarding Sunday's results. "The Texans, Eagles, Patriots, Cowboys and Bears hurt us."
 
The Texans (-7) won 20-3 at home against the Jaguars. The Eagles (-7) wrangled their way into the playoffs with a 24-0 win at Washington, coupled with the Bears 24-10 win at Minnesota (-4.5). The Patriots (-14) mopped up the Jets in a 38-3 blowout and the Cowboys won a wild one, 36-35, at the Giants (-7.5). Runnign back Ezekiel Elliott didn't play, but quarterback Dak Prescott did. He played the entire game and played well. 
 
The Cowboys are 2.5-point home favorites on Saturday night against the Seahawks. The Eagles are getting +6 at Chicago in Sunday's late Wild Card game. QB Nick Foles is saving the Eagles again, winning his last three starts for the Eagles. 
 
The Steelers (-14.5) struggled in a 16-13 win against the Bengals and finished the season on a 2-4 run to blow the division in an epic choke job. They needed the Ravens to lose, but the Ravens took care of business.
 
The Ravens might be the scariest team in the playoffs with the No. 1 ranked defense and rookie QB Lamar Jackson proving to be unstoppable. They've won six of their last seven, one of which was 22-10 win at the Chargers in Week 16. The Chargers go to Baltimore Sunday where the Ravens are -1.5.
 
The Chargers (-6.5) won 23-9 at Denver on Sunday to cap off a 12-4 season. The Broncos lost their last four games of the season.  The Chiefs won the AFC West with a 12-4 record and clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC by beating the Raiders 35-3, easily covering the 14-point spread. 
 
The Rams (-10.5) clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC with a 48-32 win against the visiting 49ers. The Bears were scoreboard watching with hopes of getting the No. 2 seed and a bye, and when it was apparent the Rams weren't going to lose the Bears could have pulled all their starters, but they went full throttle and ended the Vikings season.   
 
It wasn't all doom and gloom for the sports books.    
 
"Great day because the season-long props went our way," said Westgate Superbook VP Jay Kornegay.

"Even though we split our top games, results were positive. We were able to grind out small wins across the board. But the season win props were very positive. Our biggest win came from the Vikings missing the playoffs. We took a large wager on Minnesota to make the playoffs before the season started. The divisions and season wins were both winners."
 
The favorites went 7-9 against the spread on Sunday with four underdogs winning outright, the biggest being the Panthers 33-14 win at New Orleans who rested QB Drew Brees. The win paid out +310 at the Mirage and ended the Panthers seven-game losing streak. Totals went 8-8 on the day.
 

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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