The first six games in the NFL postseason went pretty much gone according to plan, and that has been just fine for Las Vegas and offshore sports books. Sunday turned out to be Bloody Sunday for the books, as the underdog Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers each went on the road and won divisional round playoff games against teams coming off a bye week.
This did not go well for the sportsbooks, with executives in Vegas calling this weekend’s results “colossal” and “awful.”
“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.”
MGM VP of race and sports Jay Rood told Purdum this weekend’s losses were “just colossal” when describing the loss his company took, while Westgate SuperBook assistant manager Ed Salmons said the outcomes was “awful” and it “can’t be worse.” One sportsbook operator in Nevada claimed to have lost a figure somewhere in the seven-figures as bettors racked up some big money on parlay bets over the weekend.
The latest losses come a week after the public cashed in on all four playoff favorites covering the spread, which all four did. Not to be lost in the shuffle was last week’s news that the books were hit hard with Clemson upsetting Alabama in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday night, which was described as “as bad as a result as humanly possible” for Vegas sportsbooks.
Simply put, January 2017 has not been kind to the sportsbooks, which means you should probably consider getting in on the fun while the luck continues for the public.
In the long run, the money will likely even out or swing back in the favor of the sportsbooks, but for now the public is red hot.
OMG: Vegas bettor started w/$300 on #Packers to win game 8 weeks ago – LETTING IT RIDE each gm since – has DONE IT AGAIN. To win $76,000+ pic.twitter.com/PLTr41lnnR
— RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) January 16, 2017
[ESPN]