Vegas sports books suffer 'colossal' losses from NFL weekend

Wish I could have gotten in on some of the action

 

I'm sure they did An we're not done yet

 

I hope all the folks that think the sportsbooks set the spread to get even betting on sides see this. The sportsbooks gamble just like the rest of us.

 

Good point I'm sure some people think like that
I tend to think they don't care

 

a friend missed a 7-game parlay by 1 ... seattle seahawks failed him

 

I am responsible for 181.90 $ of that. Wow. Too bad.

 

There is some truth to the books setting a line to try and get even money on both sides of the wager, but sometimes the favorites and the overs win and win a lot, and many, many recreational bettors play the favs and over the total in college and pro football.
That's what killed the books these last couple of weeks.
Can't remember all the details but the books got stomped one super bowl by the sharps when the grabbed a bunch of the favorite at -2.5 then when the line reached +3.5 they pounded that side, too.
The game ended right on the magic number of 3 and the books got caught in the middle

 

If they get even action on the superbowl they will make it up the loss and a lot more.

 

Cry not for the sportsbooks. What they giveth, they will soon taketh away

 

I don't think you make up a seven figure ass kicking with the vig on the Super Bowl.

The books just want this season behind them.

 

I think the only reason they hype their losses up so much is to try to convince casual gamblers that the sports book is beatable. Unless you really know what you are doing, the book will always come out ahead.

 

Last years handle was 132.5 million, that's enough action cover the loses from last week.

 

Seven figures. William Hill has sportsbooks in 108 sites across the state. Its a drop in the bucket

 

When you suffer the worst loss in your outfit's history, it isn't a drop in the bucket. I don't know what you guys are thinking.

 

They have had a lot of bad weeks in the NFL this season and I noticed a change last season where the public was on the right side more than average. Favorites were covering a lot but in the end the books still make money every season. I've been killing it since week 1 and I have friends that have been red hot week after week, it's not because we are good at picking games it's because what seems like a good bet every week has been a good bet, that's not normal. I'm not sure what is causing it but it seemed like they just couldn't set the line high enough on the public teams all season. I made an adjustment to my handicapping this year and instead of mostly leaning against the public I started going with the public and I was hitting 3 team, 4 team, 5 team, and even 6 team parlays all season and that is definitely not normal!

College football has not changed, against the public in prime time games was still cashing for me. The one exception was Clemson beating Alabama, I passed on that game.

 

Hype. Press. Marketing.

In the end, they will be fine.

 

Squares do bet favs and overs, in general. Thus books often shade against those, a touch, and will allow "unbalanced action" more on dogs and unders. When they bet, it is against the "square thinking" IOW. Square thinking is " if the fav is going to win, it will cover the measely x points as well", and "if I bet over, I could win the bet early in the game if the points flow fast enough". Like the spread doesn't matter and like there is some "benefit" in winning a bet early versus only winning at the gun.

They should move lines to try to re-balance, but as you stated then the DREADED MIDDLE can bite them where they lose both sides of the lopsided action. Thus why they've gone to moving the money line on key NFL numbers like 3,7 more than risking the middle.

It sounds like what hurt them is very lopsided PARLAY action. There is no way to really counteract that well ( like line moves for straight bets that can equalize action though brings middle risks ). So if favs and overs are POUNDED in parlays and then it falls that way, the books are exposed in that situation. Many laugh at parlay players, but they can bite the books in the butts at times!

 

People can talk all they want about wins and losses straight up against the spreads but you can't defend against the parlays. The gamblers study these numbers too. This entire year has been bad for the books because of favorites and overs consistently winning. Things are cyclical people. Maybe next year things will swing the other way but I can't believe anybody here is crying for the casinos.

 

No one is.

 

I know people who always bet over because they feel they have a chance for the whole 60 minutes. You'll have games that are 20 under the total with 5 minutes left will see 3 quick TD's and the over is hit. When betting under once you hit that number you've lost. I rarely bet totals. I'm no good at it. If you want to bet totals ask me which way I would bet, and then bet the opposite.