Sign In $
NFL

Books take a loss in Week 3

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
5 minute read
The Rams 20-13 Sunday night win at Cleveland had a massive effect on how Nevada sportsbooks fared in Week 3 action and let’s just say Joe Public did extremely well to the game which was tied into several of their winning sides from earlier in the day.

The books sweated out each of the first 13 games in the day only to have this one powder keg of risk in a game determine their entire day. The Rams opened -3 EVEN and moved up to -4.5 by kickoff in part because of bets but also because of large parlay risk ready to cash with the Rams covering.

“We’re getting beat up,” said MGM Resorts sportsbook director Jeff Stoneback prior to kickoff of the late game. “And we can’t get out of it even if the Browns win. There’s no way out, we’re destined to lose and if the Rams win it’ll be a semi-ugly day. Not a Black Sunday type of loss, but still semi-ugly.”

MGM books were not alone. Westgate Las Vegas Superbook VP Jay Kornegay said they had a few 10-team parlays cashing (550-to-1 ties win parlay cards) and that they went 1-2 in their biggest decisions before pending Browns decision, who they needed huge.

“Our day is up to the Browns,” said William Hill’s head bookmaker Nick Bogdanovich.

The books that had good results in the first 13 games also needed the Browns to stay in the black for the day.

Caesars Palace sportsbook director Jeff Davis said they were having a “Monster day with the first 13 games, but it’s mostly gone if the Rams get there.”

Station Casinos sportsbook director Jason McCormick said before kickoff “We’re OK right now, but Rams and over (48) make it a nothing day.”

The combination of sharps doing well, the public hitting a few parlays with the Rams sealing the deal was huge, and then there were also the teasers showing how damaging they can be for the house.

“Seven of the eight home favorites in the early games won on the teasers and our teaser loss on the day accounts for half of our overall loss on the day,” Stoneback said.

MGM books got saved from the Eagles not covering on the teaser, but they got triple whacked in sharp straight bets taking the Lions.

“The Lions were bet down from +7 to +4, the sharps were all over them this week,” Stoneback said. “It was our worst game of the day (until the Rams).”

The Lions 27-24 win at Philadelphia was also an attractive play for teaser bettors getting over the key number of going across +7 and pass +10.

Sharps also did well with the Ravens forcing the Chiefs to drop from 6.5-point home favorites down to -4.5 by kickoff.

“For once we were in a position to be rooting the Chiefs and Over, but the Ravens got there,” Stoneback said.

Technically, the Chiefs covered the closing number with the 33-28 win, and the game went over 52 total points, but the damage was done on the way down the spread ladder. Stoneback also said there was a missing element in Week 3.

“Sharp money overwhelmed the public’s money for the first time this season,” he said.

The usual situation is that sharps and the public are on different sides so when paying out a bunch from one side there’s always that surplus from the other side. But the big parlay action wasn’t there at MGM books on the strip like it was the first two weeks, both weeks where their books did well while the sharps didn’t.

“We had sharp money also on the Steelers and they bet the Cowboys early at -21 and we got late Carolina money also,” Stoneback said. “The Saints actually saved us from a total disaster on the day. They bet the Seahawks at -4 up to -5.5. We also needed Tampa Bay.”

How about the new era of the Giants with rookie quarterback Daniel Jones? A sensational debut for the sixth overall draft pick throwing for 336 yards and accounting for four TD’s, the last being a 7-yard run with 1:16 remaining to take their first lead of the game 32-31. The Bucs drove down to the field to set up a winning 34-yard field goal for rookie Matt Gay, but it went wide-right just like another Giants opponent did at the buzzer in a Super Bowl played at Tampa in 1991.

“The Giants were one of those teams that were popular with sharps and the public because there was a lot of hype surrounding Daniel Jones after he had a stellar preseason,” Stoneback said.

As the Giants new era begins on a high note, they also lost running back Saquon Barkley with a high ankle sprain and no timetable for his return has been set.

Overall, the favorites went 6-8 against the spread on Sunday aided by all five afternoon road underdogs covering and the over went 9-5.


Roberts is a former Las Vegas sports book director that has been covering the sports betting industry for the last 15 years.


Where to place a bet this NFL Season?

  • Use our exclusive BetMGM Bonus Code VIBONUS1500 to unlock BetMGM’s welcome offer for new sportsbook users!
  • Compare the latest NFL Odds from the best sportsbooks before placing a bet on this week's games.
  • Check out the North Carolina Sportsbooks just before they launch legal online sports betting.

Nfl News

VegasInsider Staff

VegasInsider Staff

More from VegasInsider Staff
•