VEGAS BETTING REPORT: NFL Favorites Deliver Brutal Week 9 for Sportsbooks

National Football League (NFL) Week 9 betting was definitely a “players’ day”, marking one of the worst days in recent memory for the sportsbook, according to Bob Scucci, vice-president of race and sports operations at Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp. Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills avoids a tackle by Andrew van Ginkel of the Minnesota Vikings during last night’s game in Minneapolis, with the Bills winning 23-6. (Image: David Berding/Getty Images) NFL favorites won 14 of 15 games in Week 9 and covered in 11, topped off last night (Nov. 9) in Minnesota with the Buffalo Bills beating the underdog Vikings 23-6. Parlays Deliver Biggest Financial Blow “We did see quite a bit of heavy public action on the favorites, but I wouldn’t say it was unusual,” said Scucci. There were a lot of games where good teams were playing bad teams, and as he added, he wouldn’t have expected the public to have bet on any of the teams the sportsbook needed to win, like the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders, L.A. Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens or Philadelphia Eagles. All of those teams lost. All the damage came from parlays, Scucci added. “We actually won money in straight bets, largely from sharp or professional bettors who saw value on the underdogs where the favorites were a little over-inflated,” he said. “In hindsight, I wish we had taken more money on those.” BetMGM Sees Similar Result The only games that balanced out the betting bloodshed were the Green Bay Packers upsetting the New England Patriots, the Dallas Cowboys not covering in their 27-23 win over the Colts, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking the Chicago Bears to the wire Sunday night (Nov. 8), before losing 27-24. “The Packers game was the only game that killed some money-line parlays on favorites and teasers,” said Scucci. “The Buccaneers certainly saved us a ton of money, but a straight-up win would have been better than just a cover.” Same deal at BetMGM, according to Christian Cipollini, senior trading manager, who described it as, “just one of those weeks … usually happens two or three times a season where all the favorites win and that’s just how it goes.” Buccaneers Help Sportsbooks Like Scucci said, plenty of parlays with favorites hit, and there were plenty of high-scoring games on Sunday (Nov. 8), so a lot of same-game parlays hit too. “While the two primetime games had the favorites winning, we at least had a silver lining where the Sunday Night Football favorite didn’t cover,” said Cipollini. “And last night was low scoring (totals for Bills-Vikings were in the 44.5-point range).” Jamey Pileggi, risk manager at Circa Sports, said Week 9 saw nothing unusual in terms of heavy public betting on favorites, with wagering handle in line with previous weeks. Accumulation of parlays connected to favorites did most of the damage at Circa as well. Anytime you have favorites covering at such a high rate, the books aren’t going to do so well on straight bets either, Pileggi added. Unders Provide Some Sportsbook Relief “This season has gone relatively smoothly, and it’s expected that we’re going to have a couple of weeks throughout the course of an 18-week regular season where we aren’t going to come out on top,” he said. Joey Feazel, head of football at Caesars Sportsbook in Las Vegas, said the Unders in Detroit-Miami, Giants-Eagles, Rams-Commanders and Jets-Chiefs provided important relief for the book, with the Colts providing the cleanest result. “Bettors enjoyed a prop-market tour that began with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Bijan Robinson delivering in Madrid (Bengals’ 34-17 win over the Falcons),” said Feazel. “The winners continued with multiple touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott, a touchdown and rushing success from Jahmyr Gibbs, and major receiving performances from Puka Nacua and CeeDee Lamb. Burrow MVP Odds Shorten Dramatically “Many of the most-popular quarterback and skill-position selections delivered, making player props another favorable area for the public.” The biggest market mover was Burrow MVP, from +450 to +210. “Joe Burrow continues to light up the board in every game they are playing,” he said. As of this afternoon, Burrow is +200 at Caesars Sportsbook, followed by Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen at +260. Allen had a solid game last night (Nov. 9) in the win over Minnesota, going 21-for-31, 234 yards and one touchdown, but he was hardly a difference-maker in a game where the Vikings’ defense dominated for large portions. Minnesota was more crippled by shoddy play on offense, particularly at quarterback. The post VEGAS BETTING REPORT: NFL Favorites Deliver Brutal Week 9 for Sportsbooks appeared first on Casino.org.