Sports betting: NFL’s Week 9 made for an ugly Sunday for bookies
"Worst day of the year, by far," griped one Vegas oddsmaker.
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When it comes to sports betting, even the public wins occasionally.
Take Sunday: The Eagles may have been off, but the bettors were on.
"We got crushed," said one Vegas oddsmaker.
"Even before the early games completed, I was preparing for the perfect storm and knew, no matter what happened in later games, it would be a very bad day," said Bill Sattler, an executive for Caesars, which also operates the sportsbooks at Harrah's and Bally's in Atlantic City.
A source told ESPN's David Purdum that bookies nationwide lost between $7 million and $10 million on Sunday. And that's just the legal guys.
Even the Philly.com staffers had a strong day. We publish NFL picks in Friday's Daily News. Zach Berman went 10-1, while Paul Domowitch and Jeff McLane went 9-2. Overall, the staff was 54-23 on Sunday.
"Wasn't just every side, but totals, as well," Sattler added. "Chiefs, Vikings, Steelers, and Bears were the biggest keys. Parlays were the killers, since you have zero percent buyback from the sharps."
In an email sent before the 1 p.m. games, sportsbook William Hill-US reported that 88 percent of the money it was seeing on the Chiefs-Browns was on Kansas City, which covered the eight-point spread with a 37-21 win. They had 87 percent on the Vikings (laying 5, beat the Lions, 24-9) and 72 percent on Carolina (laying 6, beat Tampa Bay, 42-28).
"Worst day of the year, by far," griped Nick Bogdanovich, WHUS director of trading. "Vikings, Chiefs, Bears, Dolphins, Panthers, Patriots were all bad. Oh, well."
"Congratulations to the players," Sattler said, "and we bookies get back up, dust ourselves off and [get] back at it!"
You better believe it.
>> READ MORE: Eagles able to climb standings during bye week thanks to Redskins
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Even though there is a ton of college football left, Westgate Superbook in Las Vegas already has set a line for an Alabama-Clemson national championship game on Jan. 7.
The Tide opened favored by 8 1/2.
Obviously, the game must take place, and it must be the national championship game. If they don't meet, or meet in the semifinals, all wagers are refunded.
Westgate had Alabama at 1-3 odds to win the title after Saturday's games. Clemson was 4-1, Michigan 9-1 and Notre Dame 10-1. Lurking in the background are Georgia (12-1), Ohio State (15-1) and Oklahoma (20-1).