Determined to put the misery of last year behind them, Las Vegas sportsbooks opened the NFL season on a positive note, coming out as winners on the first NFL Sunday of the season. For the day, the favorites rang up a 6-6-1 record against the spread, but it was the losing faces that ended up netting big bucks for the books.
Three games, in particular, had a lot of action for one reason or another and all three heavy favorites failed to cover their respective spreads with one even losing outright to the underdog.
Vegas’ biggest win for the day was the New England Patriots failing to cover the 10-point spread against the Buffalo Bills. As with most public teams with a lot of action on them, the Patriots’ failed attempt to cover the spread netted more than just standard single bet losses for bettors, it also killed off a huge chunk of multiple team parlays and teasers. Surprisingly, a lot of action was on the Cleveland Browns and the Indianapolis Colts to cover their one-point and 10-point spreads, respectively.
Alas, neither happened after the Miami Dolphins resoundingly beat the Brownies, 23-10, and Raiders quarterback Terrell Pryor showed everyone that Oakland may have a pulse this season after all, falling to the Colts “by just” four points, 21-17.
“We had a great morning session, and the Patriots at -10 not covering against the Bills was the biggest win overall,” Golden Nugget sports book director Tony Miller told SportingNews. “Our next biggest wins were the Dolphins at +2 beating the Browns outright and the Raiders (+11) playing the Colts tough and covering.”
With the Colts and the Patriots (two large favorites) not covering, the rest of the day shaped up solidly for the books, a lot of whom didn’t have to sweat out all the busted parlays that would’ve still been alive had the Patriots or Colts covered on their games.
“Those were our two root games,” South Point sports director Bert Osborne also told SportingNews. “Those games were the difference in us having to sweat like we normally do in the late afternoon and Sunday night game instead of just treating them like regular games because they didn’t have an extended risk attached to them like usual.”
