After the New Orleans Saints were yet another prime time favorite and over, the sportsbooks needed the Jaguars in a big way. Besides all the open parlays and teasers from Sunday, it seemed almost all the tickets on Monday were on the Ravens over Jacksonville. As Chris Andrews from Cal Neva put it, “Tonight we're not too bad on the point-spread but we have tons of live teasers going to the Ravens. So what we really need is a Jaguar outright victory. In other words, we need a miracle.” The books finally had the “gambling gods” smile on them as the Jaguars not only covered but won outright 12-7. So here we go with the weekend recap and look ahead from Las Vegas (make sure to check out the The Offshore Report: Action Already Pouring in on LSU vs. Alabama):
“I know the Ravens are playing. I don’t know the other team 'cuz I haven’t heard anyone bet ‘em yet”
-Jimmy Vaccaro (Las Vegas bookmaker at Lucky's Race and Sports Book)
The best college game of the week?
*Michigan State winning outright over Wisconsin. Killed sides, teasers and money line wagers.
What games hurt the book in college on Saturday?
*Alabama putting it on in the second half and covering against Tennessee.
NFL game that made the house money?
*Vikings over the Packers. As one bookmaker put it, "I am a Christian Ponder fan. For the time being, anyway.”
*Jets over Chargers.
*Overall, the unders starting to show have helped the books considerably after all the overs were hitting them so hard early in the season.
"
In the isolated games such as the Saints last night and the Ravens tonight the problem is they draw no attention to the underdog whatsoever. All betting is geared toward the favorite. All the live parlay action going into the favorites that cause commotion for us."
-Vegas Bookmaker
Who cost you money in the NFL?
*Cowboys smashing the St. Louis Rams. Books kept raising the number but no one was foolish enough to bet the pitiful Rams.
*The folks at Lucky's report, "Worst single game of the year for us was the Broncos game and Tebow’s comeback."
"In college we have a few teams that are simply much better than everyone else. We were very slow to adjust the numbers for the public, but I think we finally got there. Now the pros have some teams that are just awful. The public won't bet them at the numbers we're posting. We need to adjust upward on some of these pathetic outfits.”
-Chris Andrews (Las Vegas bookmaker at Cal Neva family of sportsbooks)
Early NFL action:
*Patriots opened -1.5 and now up to -3.0 over Steelers.
*Bills opened -4.5 over Redskins and is now up to -6.0.
Early action in college football:
*Florida State opened -17.5 over NC State and now is up to -20.0.
*California opened -7.0 over UCLA and down to -5.0.
*Oklahoma State opened -16 over Baylor and now down to -13.5.
*Stanford opened -9.0 over USC and now down to -7.0.
"A little less on the big dogs because even the sophisticated guy is waiting until much later in the week. The worst he’s going to get is what he could’ve gotten earlier in the week. Everybody’s waiting until Thursday or Friday until any big moves are being made."
-Lucky's Race and Sports Book
Contributors:
Chris Andrews from Cal Neva: Las Vegas bookmaker at Cal Neva working directly with legendary oddsmaker Nick Bogdanovich. Cal Neva has 35 locations throughout Nevada, including the Las Vegas strip, Henderson, Mesquite, Reno, Sparks, Carson City, South Lake Tahoe, Jackpot, and Gardnerville. You can catch Chris on ESPN945.com and follow him on twitter at @andrewssports.
Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book: Legendary Las Vegas bookmaker and Director of Sports Operations and Public Relations. Lucky’s Race & Sports Book has 17 locations, including the Riviera Hotel & Casino, Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel, Plaza Hotel & Casino and Terrible's Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall and River Palms Resort Casino in Laughlin. Follow Jimmy V and Lucky’s on twitter at @JimmyVaccaro and @betatluckys.