The first NFL Sunday is a lot like the first day of school after a long summer. Pencils have to be sharp, nobody really knows what to expect and you better pack a lunch.
Bookmakers around the country were delighted that everybody did their homework and they were ready to fire on their exams.
“It was a great day for the book,” PointsBet Sportsbook senior sports analyst Andrew Mannino told NBC Sports. “We saw strong action right from the jump. Big upsets in Jacksonville and Washington really helped us out a lot. We also had so much action on Dallas on Sunday Night Football. Good decision on Rams outright. Really the only game that hurt us was Bucs-Saints. Overall though, a good day for business.”
One Vegas bookmaker told me the Rams outright win saved his sportsbook well into six figures.[[ad:athena]]
“When the public road favorite loses on Sunday Night Football, it almost guarantees a winning day for the book,” he explained. “That was definitely the case last night. Everybody bet Dallas leading up to Sunday and then on gameday, everybody was making Dallas the last leg in their parlays. The Rams winning blew up endless tickets. A very good decision for the house.”
One of my favorite bets – the first touchdown scorer – had some very interesting results. Ironically enough, quarterbacks Tom Brady and Cam Newton both scored the first touchdowns in their respective games. PointsBet was dealing Brady at 40-to-1 and Newton at 14-to-1. Not one bettor took Brady, but two customers won on Newton.
And it’s no surprise that the books will be rooting for the underdogs tonight on Monday Night Football. Both road favorites have been taking nonstop action all week and the market has moved accordingly. Pittsburgh has been bet from -3 to -6. Denver was favored early, but Tennessee is now a full field goal chalk.
“Nobody has faith in Danny Dimes to get it done tonight,” Mannino quipped. “And the late game is really interesting. It was [PK] before the Von Miller injury and now we’re up to Tennessee -3. We’re definitely rooting for both dogs tonight.”
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