It was an odd weekend in the betting world as for the first time in a while, the books either had equal action on the key games (Oregon at Stanford) or needed different results depending who you asked (NFL Sunday and Monday Night games). Saturday, the Stanford and Oregon game was no where near the action as the LSU and Alabama showdown and had the books rooting for the under instead of any particular side. The Jets and Patriots game to close out Sunday NFL football was an extreme case where some shops had on their Patriots jerseys while others were rooting for the New York Jets. On the Monday Night Football front, some offshores and Vegas shops reported needing the Vikings and the under while others actually had a small lean on the Packers covering the 13-point spread at home. So let us get right into the weekend recap of the best, worst and "eh" results from the people that book the action in Las Vegas and offshore:
"The best college game was Alabama winning but not covering. The public laid the points and we had some moneyline play on Miss State."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"Big wins for us were Purdue over Ohio State, Florida State not covering and Missouri over Texas"
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book
"Wisconsin was a rough one because it landed 29. Opened 27, got as high as 30 and got bet back to 29."
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book
"The worst college game was Arkansas blowing out Tennessee. Wiseguys and public were all over the Razorbacks. We had virtually no buyback at all."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
The books across the board are big fans of the Seattle Seahawks, actually needed the Detroit Lions and depending who you asked were rooting for either the Patriots or Jets:
"The best pro game was Seattle beating Baltimore. Big on straight bets, parlays and teasers. I think we beat the first half and halftime, too."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"Patriots beating Jets was a great way to end the day in the NFL"
-Las Vegas bookmaker
"The over and New England covering cost us a great Sunday"
-Offshore bookmaker
"The worst pro game was the Texans over the Bucs. Again, wiseguys and public were on the Texans with nothing back the other way."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"We lost big on the Bears, there is no public faith left in the Lions we couldn’t give them away."
-Oddsmakers from Sports Interaction
Even though it was not in the same universe as LSU/Alabama in terms of "action", the marquee game on Saturday was Oregon at Stanford so who did the bookmakers need?
"We needed the Stanford-Oregon game under but not much as far as sides went. Tons of action both ways."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"Got beat up on Oregon-Stanford. Got beat up big on 2nd half line too."
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline
"Stanford/Oregon going over the total was not good. That was a 5 point move."
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book
"We had some marginal losses across the board, as expected there was considerable action on Oregon and the over."
-Oddsmakers from Sports Interaction
As Aaron Rodgers playing the role of Superman, the Green Bay Packers will be favored in all remaining games, so do they have a shot at going undefeated?
"We have the “Will Packers go 16-0” prop up at Yes +375/No -550"
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book
"We have the Packers +425 to go undefeated. The no is -550."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
With LSU taking down Alabama and Oklahoma State continuing to roll, it looks like they are on course to meet in the BCS Title Game. We asked the oddsmakers on what they predict this line will open at:
"On a neutral field LSU -3.5 or 4."
-Jimmy Vaccaro from Lucky's Race and Sports Book
"LSU -3.5 could get to 5/5.5, early to speculate though, I could see LSU being more of a fav."
-Oddsmakers from Sports Interaction
"I have LSU a 5 point favorite over Oklahoma State. That should be the best matchup possibility."
-Chris Andrews from Cal Neva
"LSU touchdown chalk vs Okie St."
-Oddsmakers from BetOnline
Besides all the football action there was a big boxing match in town (Las Vegas) so we checked in to see how that went:
"The Pacquiao-Marquez fight was great. The handle was excellent, the result was good and we beat the props for a little. Closed it +750/ -950 down from +700/-900"
-Las Vegas bookmaker
Interesting tidbits:
*Current Super Bowl line is NFC -4 over the AFC
*After it seemed the Philadelphia Eagles were back, the sportsbooks in Las Vegas had them around 13-1 to win the Super Bowl. After the upset loss at home as 14-point favorites, the oddsmakers have dropped to 50-1 in many spots.
*Early line has the Michigan Wolverines -6.0 over the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Have a question for our experts or an oddsmaker looking to contribute? Email me at johnny@pregame.com and I will try my best to get your question answered in next week's column.
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.
Oddsmakers 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