Las Vegas sportsbooks were hit hard by the Philadelphia Eagles’ 41-33 upset Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday night.
It was a particularly brutal outcome for William Hill sportsbook, where three people made bets of at least $1 million on the Eagles (who closed as a consensus 4.5-point underdog).
USA Today’s A.J. Perez reports that William Hill lost $4,634,782 on those three bets alone. Perez adds that 54% of the bets against the spread were on the Eagles, 75% of the moneyline bets were on the Eagles, and 54% of the over/under bets were on the over (which easily hit at 74 points; most books closed at 49 points for the o/u).
.@WilliamHill reports it lost $4,634,782 on the three huge bets on the Eagles. Overall, the sportsbooks saw bettors hit on 54% bets placed on the spread, 75% of the money-line tickets on the Eagles), and total 56% of bets placed on the over.
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) February 5, 2018
Covers.Com’s Patrick Everson was told by a Treasure Island spokesman that the Super Bowl was a “horrible outcome” and the “props were so disastrous that it ruined the whole day.”
Per @TIvegas Tony Nevill on #SuperBowl outcome: "This was a horrible outcome, and one of the few times where props were so disastrous that it ruined the whole day." Likely reflects mood of many sportsbooks. @Covers #IBetTheBigGame
— Patrick Everson (@PatrickE_Vegas) February 5, 2018
CG Technology also told Everson that they came out on the losing end.
Per @CGTechnology_ @jsimbal on #SuperBowl result: "Lost to the game. Mostly on moneyline. Small loss on spread. Props were no good, loser there too. Biggest loser was the alternate pointspread Eagles -7.5." @Covers #IBetTheBigGame
— Patrick Everson (@PatrickE_Vegas) February 5, 2018
And Everson was told by an MGM Grand spokesman that a bettor had a $3 million bet on the moneyline for the Eagles, which will pay the bettor between $4.5 and $5.4 million.
Jay Rood of @MGMRaceSports just confirmed that the $3 million #SuperBowl bet MGM books took was on the moneyline. Bettor got that wager in range of +150/+180. That means bettor won between $4.5 million and $5.4 million. @Covers#IBetTheBigGame
— Patrick Everson (@PatrickE_Vegas) February 5, 2018
However, MGM claims that they still came out a small winner on the night, due to a lot of action in-game wagering on the Patriots.
Per @MGMRaceSports Jay Rood on #SuperBowl: Despite plenty of big hits, MGM books will be small winner overall due to heavy halftime wagering on Patriots and strong in-game wagering on Pats as well. @Covers
— Patrick Everson (@PatrickE_Vegas) February 5, 2018
It seems one mystery bettor was responsible for a lot of the damage. The Las Vegas Review Journal’s Todd Dewey reports that the bettor won over $10 million by taking the Eagles on at least $7.4 million in moneyline bets.
Mystery bettor who beat Vegas out of millions on World Series reportedly won more than $10 million on Eagles on at least $7.4 million in money-line wagers #SuperBowl #RJNow
— Todd Dewey (@tdewey33) February 5, 2018
ESPN.Com’s Ben Fawkes has an article on the mystery bettor, known as “Bettor X” in the betting community. Bettor X reportedly “spread big bucks across town, all on the Eagles.”
Here’s what it looked like in The Mirage sportsbook when the Eagles won:
Scenes from Sin City: Eagles bettors exhale and go crazy at @TheMirageLV sportsbook. Philly wins 41-33 as 4.5-point underdog. Total goes way over. And all those huge Eagles moneyline bets cash! @Covers #IBetTheBigGame pic.twitter.com/41P8j06iTx
— Patrick Everson (@PatrickE_Vegas) February 5, 2018
About 30 minutes after the final whistle and the lineup @TheMirageLV sportbook is still almost out of the book! #IBetTheBigGame pic.twitter.com/gksS55dFbt
— Covers (@Covers) February 5, 2018
Who the hell is this person they would let bet 10 million on the money line? They had to have known them, multiple books let them bet. Were they that arrogant? I can’t imagine they’d have taken that much of a risk if this was someone they respected. This sounds like a great story, I want to know more.