Another weekend is completed as we wind down the college football season. Sportsbooks reported a GREAT Thanksgiving for the first time in a while and basically a wash over the weekend topped off by a losing Monday with the Saints and the over cashing in for bettors. In a year that had NFL favorites, overs and the top-ten in college football covering week in and week out, by mid-season the sportsbooks rebounded and started hammering the players. So let us get recap the week right from the very people who booked the action:
Quote of the week:
"If I were a praying man, I would pray for Georgia to beat LSU this week. That way when LSU meets Alabama for the championship the BCS will be (further) exposed as hypocrites with their message of how a playoff would nullify the importance of the regular season. What a crock of shit."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
Player score of the week was someone at BetOnline who bet $2.00 and won $2620.00:
"We had a lot of nice parlay hits over the weekend. Nice little 15 team $2 parlay won last night thanks to the Saints easy cover. Guy didn’t even hedge – good for him. South Carolina -3, Baylor -12, Florida St -3 (-115), Washington -9, Miss St -17, Stanford -7, SD State -725, USC -15.5, Hawaii -950, Texans -6 (-115), Panthers -3 (-125), Falcons -440, Pats -3 (-120), Steelers -575 and Saints -7 (-115)."
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline
How did the bookies fair in college football?
"The worst college game was Stanford over Notre Dame. We had some wiseguy play on the Irish but the public completely overpowered them with Stanford money."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"Michigan finally beating Ohio State, but not covering was big."
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline
"We did exceptionally well on LSU/Arkansas, all our clients took Arkansas and the points. Virginia Tech's blowout was a big loss."
-Phill Gray the Line Management Supervisor from Sports Interaction
"No standout CFB games at all for us at all on Saturday that made us money. USC and Stanford covers were the worst."
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book
"NC State's late cover over Maryland is in that pantheon of some of the worst beats ever. I hate to admit, it was good for us. You know how it is, though. You only remember the losses."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
Oddsmakers recap from Sunday NFL:
"The Texans-Jaguars game was terrible for us. We opened the Texans at -3 and never got anything back on the Jags until we got to 7. Of course the game landed on 7, for a compete disaster. The best NFL game was the Dolphins covering on Thanksgiving against the Cowboys. We probably had our best Thanksgiving ever."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"Thanksgiving day we won on all 3 games, best margin I can remember for a day we traditionally lose on. Tim Tebow's late heroics again proved profitable for our book, everyone was on San Diego. It will be interesting to see how much the public backs Denver at Minnesota this week, I expect they will pile on."
-Phill Gray the Line Management Supervisor from Sports Interaction
"We were stuck pretty good yesterday, thankfully the Chiefs covered giving us an extremely small win for the day – enough to buy a couple pizzas (Seriously). As far as the holiday weekend went great day on Thanksgiving, which has been a rarity over recent years. Players won Friday and Saturday. Pretty much broke even Sunday. So pretty much a push for the whole weekend."
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline
Early action for next week:
"Wiseguys took the Chiefs +8.5 against the Bears. Orton might start at QB this week and the Chiefs defense played really well. We also had play on the Skins +3.5 vs. the Jets and the Panthers +3.5 vs the Bucs. The big mover of the day was the Arizona Cardinals who got bet down from +6.5 to +4 against the Cowboys. Cards have won 4 of 5 while the Cowboys have only beet one winning team, that was in week two over the 49ers."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"The college game that is getting the most early action is the SEC Championship game between LSU and Georgia. We opened LSU at 10-point favorites but have since moved it three full points to minus 13. Over 80% of the early money is on the top ranked Tigers."
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline
How did the UNLV upset over North Carolina in college basketball turn out for Las Vegas bookmakers?
"UNLV beating UNC was the best game for us Saturday (football or basketball) even though it played was in our hometown. The number opened at 6 and went to 9.5. I thought there would be money for our guys late but money never showed."
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book
Right now the Green bay Packers are favored to Super Bowl XLVI at 3/2 followed by the New England Patriots at 9/2, San Francisco 49ers at 6-1, the Pittsburgh Steelers at 7-1 and Baltimore Ravens at 8-1. So I went to the very people who make the lines and asked where the Packers stood against the top 3 AFC challengers (note, generic Super Bowl line is NFC -4 over the AFC):
"Green Bay vs. Patriots GB -4 Green Bay vs. Ravens GB -6 Green Bay vs. Steelers GB -5.5 (could go to 6 depending on Polamalu situation)"
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book
"Packers (-5) vs Pats Packers (-6.5) vs Ravens Packers (-6.5) vs Steelers"
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"Packers (-5) vs Pats Packers (-6.5) vs Ravens Packers (-6.5) vs Steelers"
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline
"Green Bay vs. Patriots - pick Green Bay vs. Ravens - Green Bay -6 Green Bay vs. Steelers - Green Bay -3"
-Phill Gray the Line Management Supervisor from Sports Interaction
Interesting tidbits:
*If you had Maryland +13.5 over North Carolina State you are still cleaning up vomit. Up 20 going into the 4th quarter and give up 35 straight unanswered points including the dagger in the final seconds with a C.J. Wilson 59 yd interception return to make the final score 56-41. Without question, the worst beat of the season if not one of the worst of all times.
*If you're interested in hockey, Sidney Crosby to win the scoring title: Yes +700 and the No-1000.
*Sports Interaction was the only book offering lines on Canada's National College Football Championship, the Vanier Cup. McMasters thrilling win in OT gave them a monster profit on surprisingly heavy turnover. They are considering next season booking a game of the week and the entire playoffs.
*Patriots minus 21-points over the Colts this week. Before the season the Colts were +6.5 at the Patriots. Last time a NFL team was favored by -20+? Patriots 3x in 2007: -22 over Dolphins, -21.5 over Jets & -20.5 over Eagles. Going back to early 1990's teams -19.0+ are 10-0 straight up but only 3-7 against the spread. 4 overs and 6 unders.
Las Vegas 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.
Offshore Contributors:
Oddsmakers from BetOnline: BetOnline operates out of Panama City, Panama, which has been referred to as "the banking capital of Latin America". Panama is a reliable and secure business environment, providing a solid infrastructure, cutting-edge Internet bandwidth and a government that strictly regulates and monitors offshore gaming activity. @DaveMasonBOL
Phill Gray the Line Management Supervisor from Sports Interaction: Sports Interaction, the first online sportsbook licensed and regulated in North America, has been the No 1 choice in the online gambling market for more than ten years. Sports Interaction is overseen and regulated by the Kanhawake Gaming Commission
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