Forget Aaron Rodgers -- the most impressive performance of the NFL playoffs belongs to the betting public, which jumped from favorites to underdogs at precisely the right time this weekend and squashed multiple Las Vegas sportsbooks in the process....And while I got drilled at the craps table in Vegas, Sunday's football was reasonably successful for me as well, as I took the Packers-Cowboys game to go over, the Steelers to cover, and Steelers-Chiefs to go under (due to the crappy weather in KC). Not that I put a lot of money on those games, as I'm emotional enough watching games without cash on them, but at least I cut a bit of my losses on Sunday.
William Hill, which operates sportsbooks at 108 locations throughout the state, reported suffering the worst day in the company's five-year history in Nevada. So much parlay liability had built up over the weekend, the book's "seven-figure" fate was sealed before the underdog Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 18-16 Sunday night.
After Saturday's action, favorites were 6-0 straight up and against the spread. But on Sunday, bettors backed the underdogs, taking the Green Bay Packers and Steelers plus the points and on the money line.
"Seemed like a blue-collar betting day with public parlaying, teasing and pounding money lines on Packers and Steelers," said Bill Sattler, the director of specialty games for Caesars Entertainment. "We salvaged the under in [the] late game, but another solid week for the public."...
The Steelers topped it off. MGM took twice as much money on Pittsburgh plus the points as it took on Kansas City, but the more severe damage was done by parlays.
The Chalk article goes on to note that big bets on Clemson to upset Alabama in the college title game means that the books lost their asses last week. Granted, they have another 11 months to catch up to it for the year, but I always have found the economics of sports betting a whole lotta intrigue, and it's nice to see the everyday bettors win one for a change.
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