Las Vegas sportsbooks struggle in NFL Week 2
David Purdum
9/18/17
Sunday didn't start out well for Las Vegas sportsbooks.
The DirectTV feed crashed in the morning and prevented multiple casinos from showing the starts of the early NFL kickoffs. Satellite service was restored within an hour or so, but it only got worse for the sportsbooks from there.
Favorites went 6-2 in the first set of games, putting the books in an early hole. Some books were unable dig their way out and suffered a losing Sunday in Week 2 of the NFL season.
Station Casinos sportsbooks went 1-7 in the early games, with the Indianapolis Colts producing the only win for the house by covering the spread in a 16-13 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
The New England Patriots did the most damage to the house, covering the spread as 6.5-point favorites in a convincing 36-20 rout of the New Orleans Saints. Nearly 80 percent of the money bet on the game at William Hill's Nevada sportsbooks was on the Patriots.
"It was a rough morning," said Jay Rood, vice president of MGM race and sports. "Saints were awful, the Browns were really bad. We didn't have a single win worth talking about."
"All the big parlay teams -- Patriots, Steelers and Tampa Bay -- hit," said Jason Simbal, vice president of risk for Las Vegas sportsbook operator CG Technology.
The late afternoon games were better for the books, but not by much.
The Oakland Raiders delivered another costly decision, covering as 14-point favorites in a 45-20 drubbing of the New York Jets. CG Technology took a $100,000 bet on the Raiders minus the points, and MGM reported taking a low-six-figure money-line bet on the Raiders in the second half at -340 odds. Oakland outscored the Jets 24-10 in the second half, cashing the big bet.
"The Patriots were the worst in the morning, but the Raiders ended up being the worst game of the day for us," Simbal said Sunday night.
The Denver Broncos upended the favored Dallas Cowboys, and the underdog San Francisco 49ers covered the spread in a 12-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Both games helped the books, but by the time the prime-time showdown between the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers kicked off, several shops' fates had been decided.
"Looks like we're going to have a losing day no matter the outcome tonight," a sportsbook manager for Caesars Entertainment told ESPN. "It's not going to be a big loss, but the early games buried us, and we were unable to get back out of the hole."
The Sunday night game produced mixed results for books. MGM, due to parlay and teaser liability, needed the Falcons, while other books told ESPN that the best-case result would've been the Packers covering in a low-scoring game. The Falcons won 34-23, covering the spread and sending the game over the total of 55.5 or 56.
David Purdum
9/18/17
Sunday didn't start out well for Las Vegas sportsbooks.
The DirectTV feed crashed in the morning and prevented multiple casinos from showing the starts of the early NFL kickoffs. Satellite service was restored within an hour or so, but it only got worse for the sportsbooks from there.
Favorites went 6-2 in the first set of games, putting the books in an early hole. Some books were unable dig their way out and suffered a losing Sunday in Week 2 of the NFL season.
Station Casinos sportsbooks went 1-7 in the early games, with the Indianapolis Colts producing the only win for the house by covering the spread in a 16-13 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
The New England Patriots did the most damage to the house, covering the spread as 6.5-point favorites in a convincing 36-20 rout of the New Orleans Saints. Nearly 80 percent of the money bet on the game at William Hill's Nevada sportsbooks was on the Patriots.
"It was a rough morning," said Jay Rood, vice president of MGM race and sports. "Saints were awful, the Browns were really bad. We didn't have a single win worth talking about."
"All the big parlay teams -- Patriots, Steelers and Tampa Bay -- hit," said Jason Simbal, vice president of risk for Las Vegas sportsbook operator CG Technology.
The late afternoon games were better for the books, but not by much.
The Oakland Raiders delivered another costly decision, covering as 14-point favorites in a 45-20 drubbing of the New York Jets. CG Technology took a $100,000 bet on the Raiders minus the points, and MGM reported taking a low-six-figure money-line bet on the Raiders in the second half at -340 odds. Oakland outscored the Jets 24-10 in the second half, cashing the big bet.
"The Patriots were the worst in the morning, but the Raiders ended up being the worst game of the day for us," Simbal said Sunday night.
The Denver Broncos upended the favored Dallas Cowboys, and the underdog San Francisco 49ers covered the spread in a 12-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Both games helped the books, but by the time the prime-time showdown between the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers kicked off, several shops' fates had been decided.
"Looks like we're going to have a losing day no matter the outcome tonight," a sportsbook manager for Caesars Entertainment told ESPN. "It's not going to be a big loss, but the early games buried us, and we were unable to get back out of the hole."
The Sunday night game produced mixed results for books. MGM, due to parlay and teaser liability, needed the Falcons, while other books told ESPN that the best-case result would've been the Packers covering in a low-scoring game. The Falcons won 34-23, covering the spread and sending the game over the total of 55.5 or 56.
