Vegas sportsbooks bounce back after rough start in Week 12
David Purdum
ESPN Staff Writer
Westgate SuperBook assistant manager Ed Salmons was scrolling through the results of the early NFL games and couldn't find one that was a clear-cut winner for the house.
"We probably lost five of the eight early games and the other three were break-even," Salmons said. "So we really didn't win any of the early games."
The New Orleans Saints' blowout of the Los Angeles Rams, and the Tennessee Titans' 27-21 win over the Chicago Bears were bad for the books. The Atlanta Falcons easily covering as four-point favorites in a 38-19 win over the Arizona Cardinals didn't help, either. And, of course, the winless Cleveland Brownsfailing to cover -- like they did against the New York Giants on Sunday -- is never a good thing for the house these days.
"The Browns are always bad for us," Salmons said. "We were losing on parlays after 10 o'clock and that's really hard to do."
The MGM was in a similar spot after the early games and was facing a make-or-break decision involving the New England Patriots in the afternoon.
There were seven times as many bets on the favored Patriots as there were on the New York Jets.
"Parlay money is not even close," the MGM's Jay Rood said. "We're well into the mid-six figures on the Patriots, with less than $50,000 on the Jets."
New England won 22-17 but failed to cover as 9.5-point favorites.
All three underdogs -- the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Jets -- covered the spread in the afternoon games, and the Kansas City Chiefs' overtime win over the favored Denver Broncos at night helped even things out for the books after the rough start. Four times as much money was bet on the Broncos as was on the Chiefs at Las Vegas sportsbook operator CG Technology.
David Purdum
ESPN Staff Writer
Westgate SuperBook assistant manager Ed Salmons was scrolling through the results of the early NFL games and couldn't find one that was a clear-cut winner for the house.
"We probably lost five of the eight early games and the other three were break-even," Salmons said. "So we really didn't win any of the early games."
The New Orleans Saints' blowout of the Los Angeles Rams, and the Tennessee Titans' 27-21 win over the Chicago Bears were bad for the books. The Atlanta Falcons easily covering as four-point favorites in a 38-19 win over the Arizona Cardinals didn't help, either. And, of course, the winless Cleveland Brownsfailing to cover -- like they did against the New York Giants on Sunday -- is never a good thing for the house these days.
"The Browns are always bad for us," Salmons said. "We were losing on parlays after 10 o'clock and that's really hard to do."
The MGM was in a similar spot after the early games and was facing a make-or-break decision involving the New England Patriots in the afternoon.
There were seven times as many bets on the favored Patriots as there were on the New York Jets.
"Parlay money is not even close," the MGM's Jay Rood said. "We're well into the mid-six figures on the Patriots, with less than $50,000 on the Jets."
New England won 22-17 but failed to cover as 9.5-point favorites.
All three underdogs -- the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Jets -- covered the spread in the afternoon games, and the Kansas City Chiefs' overtime win over the favored Denver Broncos at night helped even things out for the books after the rough start. Four times as much money was bet on the Broncos as was on the Chiefs at Las Vegas sportsbook operator CG Technology.
