A look back at this past weekend from a bettor?s point-of-view
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations, www.betcom.com
Dec 6
After a very nice NCAA Saturday, the NFL let the house down for a second week in a row. This may be the best two-week span to be a recreational player in two decades as the favored teams continue to roll, going 11-3-2. We started off Saturday with the ACC championship game. I was expecting quite a bit of action on both teams, but as it turned out the money mostly on Miami Fla. By game time we had a ticket count of nearly 3-1 on the ?Canes?. Our line opened and closed on the ?key number? of seven and the house did quite well when Va. Tech -- they get no respect! -- won outright 16-10.
The second big game on Saturday was the SEC championship game, which saw Tennessee trying to take out Auburn. Auburn opened as a prohibitive -14 ? point favorite and rose to -16 after news leaked that some of the Tennessee players had been in a bar fight. Hindsight is 20/20, but 16 points is an awful lot to have to cover in a championship caliber game. In the end Auburn won 38-28, but did failed ATS.
Sunday was not nearly as kind to the bookies. I could write a novel about the big beating ?the house? took Sunday - - a Stephen King type publication. But I will focus on two games that pretty much sum up the day?s events. First, the Patriots opened as -8 point favorites. We had them as high as -12 1/2! Consider this: We take a bet at every number, and do not move the line unless we have taken our maximum exposure at that number. We moved the line from 8 to 12 ?. That?s NINE maximum risk adjustments we made on a single game! A 4?-point move in the NFL is virtually unheard of, barring any major injury. But at the rate a few of these teams are going the line seemingly should be -21 ?.
Another example of the NFL bloodbath was the Colts vs Titans game, where the Colts opened as -10 point favorites. It is very rare to see a 10-point favorite in the NFL at this time of year. In a nutshell, there does not seem to be the same parity in the NFL this season as in years past. The strongest teams are really rolling over the weaker ones. We closed the Colts as 13 ? point favorites, which was 3? points up, another HUGE move by NFL standards.
When all was said and done we were a wash for the weekend as the NCAA games offset the damage done on Sunday.
Well, that?s it for this past weekend. Till next week?.
Get in on the action: www.betcom.com
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations, www.betcom.com
Dec 6
After a very nice NCAA Saturday, the NFL let the house down for a second week in a row. This may be the best two-week span to be a recreational player in two decades as the favored teams continue to roll, going 11-3-2. We started off Saturday with the ACC championship game. I was expecting quite a bit of action on both teams, but as it turned out the money mostly on Miami Fla. By game time we had a ticket count of nearly 3-1 on the ?Canes?. Our line opened and closed on the ?key number? of seven and the house did quite well when Va. Tech -- they get no respect! -- won outright 16-10.
The second big game on Saturday was the SEC championship game, which saw Tennessee trying to take out Auburn. Auburn opened as a prohibitive -14 ? point favorite and rose to -16 after news leaked that some of the Tennessee players had been in a bar fight. Hindsight is 20/20, but 16 points is an awful lot to have to cover in a championship caliber game. In the end Auburn won 38-28, but did failed ATS.
Sunday was not nearly as kind to the bookies. I could write a novel about the big beating ?the house? took Sunday - - a Stephen King type publication. But I will focus on two games that pretty much sum up the day?s events. First, the Patriots opened as -8 point favorites. We had them as high as -12 1/2! Consider this: We take a bet at every number, and do not move the line unless we have taken our maximum exposure at that number. We moved the line from 8 to 12 ?. That?s NINE maximum risk adjustments we made on a single game! A 4?-point move in the NFL is virtually unheard of, barring any major injury. But at the rate a few of these teams are going the line seemingly should be -21 ?.
Another example of the NFL bloodbath was the Colts vs Titans game, where the Colts opened as -10 point favorites. It is very rare to see a 10-point favorite in the NFL at this time of year. In a nutshell, there does not seem to be the same parity in the NFL this season as in years past. The strongest teams are really rolling over the weaker ones. We closed the Colts as 13 ? point favorites, which was 3? points up, another HUGE move by NFL standards.
When all was said and done we were a wash for the weekend as the NCAA games offset the damage done on Sunday.
Well, that?s it for this past weekend. Till next week?.
Get in on the action: www.betcom.com
