A look back at this past weekend from a bettor?s point-of-view
By Jimmy Mason, Director of Sportsbook Operations, www.betcom.com
This weekend was anywhere from nice to excellent for the books depending on which bookmakers I spoke with. At betcom.com we had an excellent weekend as the baskets went our way and we were fortunate enough to get our recreational customers coming and limit the damages from our small professional clientele. Let?s take a look at four NFL games that formed the basis for our weekend.
First to tear up their tickets this weekend were the recreational players who took a beating Saturday when the Steelers barely stopped the lowly Giants 33-30. The line was anywhere from -10 to -11 so the G-Men easily covered the spread. Eli Manning?s ?moral victory? helped out the book a ton as seemingly anyone in his right mind was betting the Steelers to a tune of almost 7-1 wagers! As discussed many times in the column laying points on the road, especially a lot of points on the road is never a great bargain and thus the weekend was off and running.
Sunday afternoon?s session saw another washout for the public as they loaded up on the Packers at -3 ?, -4 and even a bit at -4 ?. This game moved through two key numbers and in the end, the money line turned out to be just as profitable as the point spread. Many thought Brett Favre was easy money at Lambeau in late December. Green Bay played well enough to cover this spread, but with 12 penalties and propensity to give the ball away they ended up gift-wrapping this one for the Jaguars 28-25 who stay alive in the wild card hunt at 8-6.
The wise guys made a couple of good, aggressive moves Sunday. One big play was the Buffalo Bills. The Bills were on the road needing a win to keep their playoff chances alive versus a Bengal team that was eliminated from playoff contention last week and was starting QB Jon Kitna for the first time this season. This play was so strong that the Bills closed as -3 point favorites! The Bills came in exactly as anticipated, played extremely physical football, won 33-17and left tied at 8-6 for the last wild card spot in the AFC.
The second of the two sharp moves we saw on Sunday was on the Raiders who were hosting the Titans. The Raiders opened ? 2? and the pros moved the line all the way across the number three to close at -3?. In a battle of passing attacks Oakland got the best of it winning a shootout 40-35. The books were sweating bullets as the Raiders held a 3-point lead and a devastating middle looked imminent. Imagine a fortune bet at ? 2 ?, hundreds of players buying on or off of -3, and then taking back a ton of +3 ?. Money on the Titans from the last-minute shoppers. There was a roar from the bookie section when with eight seconds left the Raiders sacked Billy Volek for a safety and the game landed on the ?dead? number of five.
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
This weekend was anywhere from nice to excellent for the books depending on which bookmakers I spoke with. At betcom.com we had an excellent weekend as the baskets went our way and we were fortunate enough to get our recreational customers coming and limit the damages from our small professional clientele. Let?s take a look at four NFL games that formed the basis for our weekend.
First to tear up their tickets this weekend were the recreational players who took a beating Saturday when the Steelers barely stopped the lowly Giants 33-30. The line was anywhere from -10 to -11 so the G-Men easily covered the spread. Eli Manning?s ?moral victory? helped out the book a ton as seemingly anyone in his right mind was betting the Steelers to a tune of almost 7-1 wagers! As discussed many times in the column laying points on the road, especially a lot of points on the road is never a great bargain and thus the weekend was off and running.
Sunday afternoon?s session saw another washout for the public as they loaded up on the Packers at -3 ?, -4 and even a bit at -4 ?. This game moved through two key numbers and in the end, the money line turned out to be just as profitable as the point spread. Many thought Brett Favre was easy money at Lambeau in late December. Green Bay played well enough to cover this spread, but with 12 penalties and propensity to give the ball away they ended up gift-wrapping this one for the Jaguars 28-25 who stay alive in the wild card hunt at 8-6.
The wise guys made a couple of good, aggressive moves Sunday. One big play was the Buffalo Bills. The Bills were on the road needing a win to keep their playoff chances alive versus a Bengal team that was eliminated from playoff contention last week and was starting QB Jon Kitna for the first time this season. This play was so strong that the Bills closed as -3 point favorites! The Bills came in exactly as anticipated, played extremely physical football, won 33-17and left tied at 8-6 for the last wild card spot in the AFC.
The second of the two sharp moves we saw on Sunday was on the Raiders who were hosting the Titans. The Raiders opened ? 2? and the pros moved the line all the way across the number three to close at -3?. In a battle of passing attacks Oakland got the best of it winning a shootout 40-35. The books were sweating bullets as the Raiders held a 3-point lead and a devastating middle looked imminent. Imagine a fortune bet at ? 2 ?, hundreds of players buying on or off of -3, and then taking back a ton of +3 ?. Money on the Titans from the last-minute shoppers. There was a roar from the bookie section when with eight seconds left the Raiders sacked Billy Volek for a safety and the game landed on the ?dead? number of five.
Well, that?s it for this past weekend. Till next week?.
Get in on the action: www.betcom.com
