Trader Talk: NFL Week 6 a ‘Bloodbath’ for Sportsbooks

Posted on: October 15, 2024, 04:52h. 

Last updated on: October 16, 2024, 10:06h.

Mark Keast Read More
Expertise: Canadian Gaming, iGaming, Las Vegas, Sports Betting, NFL, Boxing, UFC.

A few weeks back, going into Week 4 NFL betting, DraftKings’ Director of Race & Sportsbook Operations, Johnny Avello, scanned the landscape from his Las Vegas office and talked about upsets galore and the beating punters were taking.

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Jets in New York on Monday night, 23-20, to go to 4-2 on the season. Image/Ben Green/Buffalo Bills.

Turnaround for Bettors in Week 6

“It hasn’t been good for bettors betting teasers, money line parlays and even contest – Survivor contests, the majority of the group has taken a real hit the first three weeks,” he said then. “It’s a strange trend going on. I can’t put a finger on it.”

Avello also predicted that it’s only a matter of time before things balance out. And boy, did that happen over this weekend.

One BetVictor trader described it to us as a “bloodbath,” as a great start to the season for bookies came to a grinding halt, where 12 of 13 favorites going into Monday night’s Buffalo Bills-New York Jets game at MetLife Stadium won their games.

Bills Win Tops Off Crazy NFL Betting Weekend

The favorite going into Monday night’s contest, the Bills, came out on top, 23-20. The game was crazy – marked by a 52-yard Hail Mary from Jets QB Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard on the last play of the first half to bring the Jets within three points in a game that featured 11 penalties for each team, three missed field goals (two by Jets kicker Greg Zuerlain and one by the Bills’ Tyler Bass), and a missed extra point (Bass).

Things went so badly for the Jets on Monday night that they pulled the trigger on a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday for wide receiver Devante Adams.

“The players had a very good Sunday, connecting on both straight bets and parlays,” Avello told Casino.org. “We’re still open for business and look forward to them firing away on the upcoming games this weekend.”

49ers Blowout Kicked Things Off

The week started badly for bookies when the San Francisco 49ers  (1/2 favorites) put up 36 points in their easy win over the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.

On Sunday, to give a few examples, the Chicago Bears pounded lackluster Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars, in London, 35-16, Green Bay (2/5 favorites) easily handled the Arizona Cardinals, 34-13, and the LA Chargers (8/13) covered the spread, beating the Denver Broncos 23-16. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers (1/2 favorites) put 32 past the Raiders, beating them by 19 to cover all markets, the Detroit Lions (1/2) destroyed the Dallas Cowboys 47-9, and the Baltimore Ravens (1/3 favorites) beat the Washington Commanders 30-23, covering the spread.

In that Ravens game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, GeoComply (the tech company that detects location fraud by working with operators to help verify a user’s true digital identity), in their Monday Huddle weekly report, said they saw a 27% surge in active sports betting accounts in Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland (540K active accounts) betting on that game, compared to Week 6 last year.

BetVictor: Biggest NFL in Years in a Night

“The only match where the favorite on the week did not win was the Tennessee Titans, losing 20-17 to the Indianapolis Colts, but this match was 8/11,” said Glen Hyslop, a BetVictor trader. “They were not strong favorites at all.”

Sunday was by far their biggest NFL loss for years in a night, another BetVictor trader told Casino.org.

“Bettors got the entire sundae this week, and they deserved it. It had been a rough start to the season for them,” said Tristan Davis, senior trading manager at BetMGM.