New England loss gives Vegas a big win
David Purdum
ESPN Staff Writer
This time, the Seattle Seahawks won -- and so did Las Vegas.
The Seahawks used a last-second goal-line stand to beat the New England Patriots 31-24 Sunday night, capping a day full of underdog success stories and giving sportsbooks a little bit of revenge on one of their largest Super Bowl disappointments of the past.
Underdogs covered the spread in nine of the 12 games on Sunday. The Philadelphia Eagles' win over the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans' upset of the Green Bay Packers produced the biggest wins of the early games for the books. All three underdogs in the late kickoffs covered the spread, highlighted by the Dallas Cowboys' outright win over the favored Pittsburgh Steelers.
But the Seahawks' win over the Patriots -- especially when put in context with what happened in Super Bowl XLIX between Seattle and New England -- was the sweetest for the books.
New England defeated Seattle 28-24 in that Super Bowl, with Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler picking off a slant pass from Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson at the goal line in the final seconds to secure the win in a game with a consensus closing line of pick 'em. It was a costly swing for multiple Las Vegas sportsbooks; both the Wynn and MGM sportsbooks said the Patriots winning caused seven-figure swings against the house.
"I won't ever forget it," Jay Rood, MGM vice president of race and sports, told ESPN. "I was in the office, watching a smaller TV with a faster feed, while everyone else was watching the big screen that was a few seconds behind. Everyone was wondering why I was cussing and hitting the wall. They soon found out."
Jason Simbal, vice president of race and sports at CG Technology, said Butler's interception produced the loudest roar from a sportsbook crowd he remembers. The reaction was the same across town.
"When Butler intercepted that pass from Wilson the place exploded," a Caesars sportsbook manager said. "Between ecstatic Pats fans and pissed off Seahawks fans, and everything in between, it's possibly the loudest reaction I've ever heard in a sportsbook."
In the hours leading up to kickoff on Sunday, four times as much money had been bet on Patriots as had been bet on the Seahawks at the Westgate SuperBook. The action on New England was more than double than what was on Seattle at William Hill's Nevada sportsbook.
"[It was a] good day," William Hill director of trading Nick Bogdanovich said in a text message.
Odds and ends
• A Saturday that saw a slew of top-ranked teams upset produced mixed results for the sportsbooks. No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Washington and No. 9 Auburn all lost Saturday.
"Everyone thought all those upsets were going to be great," the MGM's Rood said. "But once you knock one big off like that, you scoop up all the parlay money and the rest of them are basically not great decisions, because you usually have sharp money on the dog side. If you have too many decisions like that you start flushing money to the sharps."
Colorado, Washington State and Boise State produced big losses for the MGM at night, Rood said.
"We can't get anyone to bet Arizona [a 49-24 loser to Colorado]," Rood said. "The only night game we really won was USC [a 26-13 winner over Washington]."
• Alabama is now an odds-on favorite to win the national championship at the Westgate SuperBook. The Crimson Tide moved to 4-5 this week, followed by Ohio State (2-1), Louisville (6-1), Clemson (12-1) and Wisconsin (15-1). Washington dropped back to 20-1 after its loss to USC. Other teams still listed: Oklahoma (20-1), West Virginia (50-1), Washington State (50-1), Penn State (50-1).
Louisville, one of only three teams with single-digit odds, is the Westgate's largest liability at this point.
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</aside>• College basketball tipped off last week, with Duke beginning the season as the consensus favorite to win the national championship. Here are the preseason betting trends on the odds to win the national title at the Westgate:
Top 5 teams by number of bets to win the national title
1. Syracuse
2. Kentucky
3. Wisconsin
4a. Michigan State
4b. Duke
Top 5 teams by amount of money bet to win the national title
1. Kentucky
2. Duke
3. Syracuse
4. Oregon
5. Wisconsin
David Purdum
ESPN Staff Writer
This time, the Seattle Seahawks won -- and so did Las Vegas.
The Seahawks used a last-second goal-line stand to beat the New England Patriots 31-24 Sunday night, capping a day full of underdog success stories and giving sportsbooks a little bit of revenge on one of their largest Super Bowl disappointments of the past.
Underdogs covered the spread in nine of the 12 games on Sunday. The Philadelphia Eagles' win over the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans' upset of the Green Bay Packers produced the biggest wins of the early games for the books. All three underdogs in the late kickoffs covered the spread, highlighted by the Dallas Cowboys' outright win over the favored Pittsburgh Steelers.
But the Seahawks' win over the Patriots -- especially when put in context with what happened in Super Bowl XLIX between Seattle and New England -- was the sweetest for the books.
New England defeated Seattle 28-24 in that Super Bowl, with Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler picking off a slant pass from Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson at the goal line in the final seconds to secure the win in a game with a consensus closing line of pick 'em. It was a costly swing for multiple Las Vegas sportsbooks; both the Wynn and MGM sportsbooks said the Patriots winning caused seven-figure swings against the house.
"I won't ever forget it," Jay Rood, MGM vice president of race and sports, told ESPN. "I was in the office, watching a smaller TV with a faster feed, while everyone else was watching the big screen that was a few seconds behind. Everyone was wondering why I was cussing and hitting the wall. They soon found out."
Jason Simbal, vice president of race and sports at CG Technology, said Butler's interception produced the loudest roar from a sportsbook crowd he remembers. The reaction was the same across town.
"When Butler intercepted that pass from Wilson the place exploded," a Caesars sportsbook manager said. "Between ecstatic Pats fans and pissed off Seahawks fans, and everything in between, it's possibly the loudest reaction I've ever heard in a sportsbook."
In the hours leading up to kickoff on Sunday, four times as much money had been bet on Patriots as had been bet on the Seahawks at the Westgate SuperBook. The action on New England was more than double than what was on Seattle at William Hill's Nevada sportsbook.
"[It was a] good day," William Hill director of trading Nick Bogdanovich said in a text message.
Odds and ends
• A Saturday that saw a slew of top-ranked teams upset produced mixed results for the sportsbooks. No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Washington and No. 9 Auburn all lost Saturday.
"Everyone thought all those upsets were going to be great," the MGM's Rood said. "But once you knock one big off like that, you scoop up all the parlay money and the rest of them are basically not great decisions, because you usually have sharp money on the dog side. If you have too many decisions like that you start flushing money to the sharps."
Colorado, Washington State and Boise State produced big losses for the MGM at night, Rood said.
"We can't get anyone to bet Arizona [a 49-24 loser to Colorado]," Rood said. "The only night game we really won was USC [a 26-13 winner over Washington]."
• Alabama is now an odds-on favorite to win the national championship at the Westgate SuperBook. The Crimson Tide moved to 4-5 this week, followed by Ohio State (2-1), Louisville (6-1), Clemson (12-1) and Wisconsin (15-1). Washington dropped back to 20-1 after its loss to USC. Other teams still listed: Oklahoma (20-1), West Virginia (50-1), Washington State (50-1), Penn State (50-1).
Louisville, one of only three teams with single-digit odds, is the Westgate's largest liability at this point.
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| GAME | OPENING LINE | MONDAY |
|---|---|---|
| Ball State at Toledo, Wednesday | Toledo -18 | Toledo -21 |
| Louisville at Houston, Thursday | NL | NL |
| Arkansas State at Troy, Thursday | Troy -6.5 | Troy -9 |
| Oklahoma at West Virginia | Oklahoma -2.5 | Oklahoma -2.5 |
| Indiana at Michigan | Michigan -29 | Michigan -26 |
| Virginia Tech at Notre Dame | Virginia Tech -1 | Virginia Tech PK |
| Miami, Fla. at North Carolina State | Miami -1.5 | Miami -3 |
| Florida at LSU | LSU -11 | LSU -14 |
| Oklahoma State at TCU | TCU -3.5 | TCU -4 |
| USC at UCLA | USC -10.5 | USC -10.5 |
| Clemson at Wake Forest | Clemson -24 | Clemson -21.5 |
| Ohio State at Michigan State | Ohio State -23.5 | Ohio State -22 |
| Washington State at Colorado | Colorado -5 | Colorado -3.5 |
| Arizona State at Washington | Washington -24 | Washington -26 |
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</aside>• College basketball tipped off last week, with Duke beginning the season as the consensus favorite to win the national championship. Here are the preseason betting trends on the odds to win the national title at the Westgate:
Top 5 teams by number of bets to win the national title
1. Syracuse
2. Kentucky
3. Wisconsin
4a. Michigan State
4b. Duke
Top 5 teams by amount of money bet to win the national title
1. Kentucky
2. Duke
3. Syracuse
4. Oregon
5. Wisconsin
