NFL Week 9 Bloody Sunday for Sportsbooks, Bettors Win $7M to $10M

Posted on: November 5, 2018, 08:41h. 

Last updated on: November 5, 2018, 08:43h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Week 9 of the NFL season was a bad day for oddsmakers but a good one for bettors, as numerous casinos and operators reporting massive losses due to several popular teams covering their spreads.

NFL odds lines Chiefs Browns
The Kansas City Chiefs dominated the Cleveland Browns, and in doing so delivered a touchdown to sports bettors in what was a bad NFL week for oddsmakers. (Image: Kirk Irwin/Getty)

The Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, and Kansas City Chiefs all covered their spreads on Sunday.

The Chiefs, who played at Cleveland and spotted the Browns eight points, easily covered by winning 37-21. ESPN’s David Purdum, who covers all things sports betting for the network, said Kansas City was the most bet team in week nine. William Hill added that 88 percent of the money was on the Chiefs.

Purdum writes that industry sources put total losses for week nine in the $7 million to $10 million range.

“We took a big punch today,” Westgate SuperBook VP of Race and Sports Jay Kornegay stated. “It could snowball into Monday. Good thing is we’ll be open on Tuesday.”

Top 10 Loss

William Hill, the largest bookmaker in Nevada, said bettors won nine of the 11 Sunday games. Online sportsbooks reported bettors took all 11 games from the house. Casinos reported similar poor results.

“Goes on the list of top 10 worst Sundays for us,” MGM VP of Race & Sports Jay Rood revealed. Rood has been setting lines for a quarter of a century in Las Vegas.

Favorites were only 6-5 against the spread on Sunday. It was the bettors, however, who simply predicted the correct winners and losers.

The public just nailed it,” Boyd Gaming sportsbook director Bob Scucci added. “They had the big favorites – Bears, Chiefs, Panthers, and Vikings, as well as the short dogs, Texans and Steelers.”

One bettor wagered $100,000 at MGM books on the Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and New England Patriots. Kansas City and New England both delivered wins for the bettor.

MGM said it took 10 times more money on the Chiefs than the Browns, six times more on the Steelers than the Baltimore Ravens, and five times more on the Vikings than the Detroit Lions.

Of course, week nine won’t put any sportsbooks out of business. The 2018 NFL season has been wildly successful for the house, with operators winning a record $56.3 million in September.

MNF, Super Bowl Odds

Oddsmakers will look to recoup some of their losses tonight when the Tennessee Titans (3-4) play at the Dallas Cowboys (3-4). The home team is favored by five points, and the over/under is at 40 points.

There’s been some late action on the visiting Titans. The SuperBook line on the Cowboys had ballooned to as much as 6.5 points, but recent bets on the visitors have shortened the spread by a point and a half.

As for the Super Bowl, the Los Angeles Rams are the favorite at 4/1. They’re followed by the Patriots (9/2), Chiefs and New Orleans Saints (11/2), and Steelers at 10/1.

The Arizona Cardinals, Browns, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are all at 500/1, meaning a $10 bet would net $5,000 should one of those most unlikely scenarios come true.