A look back at this past weekend from a bettor’s point-of-view
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations,
MyBookie (www.mybookie.com)
January 9
This weekend was the stuff dreams are made of for the bookmakers as three of four underdogs won outright in the wild card matchups, but surprisingly it all came down to the last game of the weekend for bm’s (Bookmakers) and players alike.
Saturday’s early game saw the Rams knock off the Seahawks in a minor upset. We took nearly as much action on the Rams money line as we did on the Rams pointspread in this game giving us with a shot at the ‘sportsbook middle’. We call a ‘sportsbook middle’ when, as with the Rams/Seahawks we the house have a shot at winning both sides of the game. In this instance we had half of our players laying 3 ½ on the Seahawks and a slew taking +150 on the Rams money line. If the Rams had won by 1, 2, or 3 we the book would have won both sides of the bets. This opportunity does not present itself often but when it does it is a solid practice for the house. The game did not ‘land’ though and we won a ‘ham sandwich’ (Industry slang for a small win or loss) with the Rams advancing 27-20.
Saturday’s afternoon game saw the first real surprise as the Jets knocked off the Chargers in overtime 20-17. The line stayed pretty steady at -6 ½ all week and I personally was surprised at the number of bets we took on the Chargers. I really thought a young team laying -6 ½ points, combined with the usual New York bias would steer the players towards the Jets but our players saw things differently laying the wood at nearly a 3-1 clip. In what was the game of the weekend we came away with a nice win.
Sunday’s early game was a runaway train wreck for every book I have spoken too this morning. We were simply swamped with Colts money and why not? Peyton Manning has been on autopilot and the Broncos never stood a chance in this one as trailing 35-3 at halftime. We tallied a whopping 7-1 bet ratio on the Colts with a slew of colts and over parlays and teasers mixed in for good measure. This loss nearly wiped out Saturday’s profits and had us a biting our fingernails going into the late game.
This game was another no-brainer for the players, as they did not hesitate to get down on the Pack. Everyone and their brother took their winnings from the early game and double or tripled up on the Packers. This game too saw an amazing ticket count of nearly 9-1 to the Green Bay side! Why wouldn’t our players bet Green Bay? The Packers had lost only one playoff game at Lambeau with Brett Favre at the helm in his career, the booby soft Vikings have a rich tradition of folding outdoors, they had just backed into the playoffs and Randy Moss had imploded again the week before. As we say in the business though ‘That’s why they play the game!’. The Vikings shocked Green Bay winning easily 31-17 ensuring a great weekend for the bookies.
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations,
MyBookie (www.mybookie.com)
January 9
This weekend was the stuff dreams are made of for the bookmakers as three of four underdogs won outright in the wild card matchups, but surprisingly it all came down to the last game of the weekend for bm’s (Bookmakers) and players alike.
Saturday’s early game saw the Rams knock off the Seahawks in a minor upset. We took nearly as much action on the Rams money line as we did on the Rams pointspread in this game giving us with a shot at the ‘sportsbook middle’. We call a ‘sportsbook middle’ when, as with the Rams/Seahawks we the house have a shot at winning both sides of the game. In this instance we had half of our players laying 3 ½ on the Seahawks and a slew taking +150 on the Rams money line. If the Rams had won by 1, 2, or 3 we the book would have won both sides of the bets. This opportunity does not present itself often but when it does it is a solid practice for the house. The game did not ‘land’ though and we won a ‘ham sandwich’ (Industry slang for a small win or loss) with the Rams advancing 27-20.
Saturday’s afternoon game saw the first real surprise as the Jets knocked off the Chargers in overtime 20-17. The line stayed pretty steady at -6 ½ all week and I personally was surprised at the number of bets we took on the Chargers. I really thought a young team laying -6 ½ points, combined with the usual New York bias would steer the players towards the Jets but our players saw things differently laying the wood at nearly a 3-1 clip. In what was the game of the weekend we came away with a nice win.
Sunday’s early game was a runaway train wreck for every book I have spoken too this morning. We were simply swamped with Colts money and why not? Peyton Manning has been on autopilot and the Broncos never stood a chance in this one as trailing 35-3 at halftime. We tallied a whopping 7-1 bet ratio on the Colts with a slew of colts and over parlays and teasers mixed in for good measure. This loss nearly wiped out Saturday’s profits and had us a biting our fingernails going into the late game.
This game was another no-brainer for the players, as they did not hesitate to get down on the Pack. Everyone and their brother took their winnings from the early game and double or tripled up on the Packers. This game too saw an amazing ticket count of nearly 9-1 to the Green Bay side! Why wouldn’t our players bet Green Bay? The Packers had lost only one playoff game at Lambeau with Brett Favre at the helm in his career, the booby soft Vikings have a rich tradition of folding outdoors, they had just backed into the playoffs and Randy Moss had imploded again the week before. As we say in the business though ‘That’s why they play the game!’. The Vikings shocked Green Bay winning easily 31-17 ensuring a great weekend for the bookies.
