If you asked most sports bettors how their NFL Sundays went, the responses would not be very positive. If you asked bookmakers, the responses were likely a lot more satisfactory.
One Vegas bookmaker told me yesterday that it was their best NFL Sunday of the year for the bottom line. Insert the mental image of the bookmaker swimming in the coin room over at Scrooge McDuck’s place.
Almost all the heavily bet favorites either lost outright or failed to cover. The Packers, Patriots and Rams alone probably killed most parlays and moneyline parlays across the entire day. Add in non-covers by the Vikings, Ravens and Colts and that’s a bad day for the betting public.
“We got a lot of favors this weekend,” PointsBet Sportsbook senior sports analyst Andrew Mannino told NBC Sports. “The Rams were a big decision for us. The Patriots and Packers losing were huge results. Even the Bears was a good one for us. A lot of breaks went our way yesterday."[[ad:athena]]
Mannino said the 49ers beating the Rams on Sunday Night Football was the best decision for the house because of the lopsided betting handle on a primetime game. PointsBet reported around 80 percent of the bets on Los Angeles.
“Everybody is psyched on Sunday night and you’re going to see a lot of action anyway,” Mannino explained. “People who win have bets to place and people who lose want to end the day on a high note. So when the favorite loses outright like that, that’s usually a win for the books.”
Onto Monday night, the NFL has another doubleheader with Bills-Chiefs and Cardinals-Cowboys.
“As a football fan, I love the Monday doubleheaders,” Mannino said. “It’s two nationally televised games and there’s nothing else on. Both of these games tonight are seeing a ton of action and the handle has been tremendous. High bet counts and a lot of handle.”
So what’s up tonight?
“Kansas City is getting more than 80 percent of the spread bets and handle,” Mannino reported. “Bettors are on KC on the moneyline too. Everybody loves to parlay the short favorites. Over is getting most of the bets in that game, but the handle is about even. Arizona-Dallas has more bets on the Cardinals, but the handle is split. 71 percent of moneyline bets are on Arizona. There’s definitely some sharp action on the Cowboys. And keeping with the tradition this year, we’ll be rooting for the Under.”
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