he MGM will need the Pittsburgh Steelers on "Monday Night Football."
Unless Nevada's largest sports book can attract some money on Pittsburgh, the MGM will be facing one of its biggest decisions of the NFL season, when the Steelers host the underdog
Houston Texans on "Monday Night Football." (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
As of late afternoon Sunday, the MGM had taken a few hundred thousand dollars in bets on the Texans compared to only $3,000 on the Steelers.
"Literally, $3,000 [on Pittsburgh]," Jay Rood, vice president of MGM race and sports, told ESPN. Rood said he took four limit bets from professionals and multiple six-figure plays from house players on the Texans. Limits vary from player to player but are generally $50,000 at the MGM. Larger limits are often extended to casino guests.
"We're going to have to send a couple guys out with sandwich boards to walk through the casino, trying to get a bet on Pittsburgh," Rood said with a chuckle. "The wiseguy community is definitely on Houston."
With the majority of the action placed in the hours leading up to kickoff on Monday night, there's plenty of time for Pittsburgh money to even the MGM out a little bit. The Steelers began Monday as a 3.5-point favorite at the MGM, while the majority of other books were offering Pittsburgh minus-3.
Rood said Sunday that he was hesitant to the move point spread down to the key number of minus-3 and instead had elected to increase the juice to minus-125 on the Texans. (In order to win $100 on Houston, a bettor would have to wager $125).
"If I go down to 3 and it happens to fall on 3, then nothing was accomplished," Rood explained. "It's going to be interesting to see if I can attract any money whatsoever on the Steelers."
The Thursday and Monday prime-time games have been rough on the books. Favorites are 9-5 against the spread combined on Thursday and Monday. Eleven of the 14 Thursday and Monday games have eclipsed the over/under total. Throw in the Sunday night games, and 17 of 21 prime-time games this season have gone over the total. Rood said his shop hasn't come out ahead on a Monday night game this season. He's hoping that changes tonight. "If you wanted to supplement your 401(k), you should have been on every move on Mondays and every over," Rood said. "Forget about the stock market; bet the prime-time games as square as you can and you'll win."
The big decision on tonight's game caps a rather nondescript football weekend for the MGM and other books across Las Vegas. Some shops reported a small win; others came up mildly short. The late games, particularly the
Dallas Cowboys' win and cover against the
New York Giants, clinched a losing day for the Wynn. The
Denver Broncos' easy win and cover over the
San Francisco 49ers did not help the books, either. But the
St. Louis Rams' upset of the
Seattle Seahawks certainly did.
Approximately 89 percent of bets on the Seattle-St. Louis game were on the Seahawks at the Westgate SuperBook, according to head football oddsmaker Ed Salmons. Seattle closed as a consensus 7-point favorite and lost straight-up 28-26.
"That was the end of a ton of parlays and teasers," Salmons said.
It was also the second straight loss for the defending champion Seahawks, who are no longer the Super Bowl favorites at most Vegas sports books. That title belongs to
Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
The
Indianapolis Colts' 27-0 blowout of the
Cincinnati Bengals produced the biggest win for the bettors. The Colts closed as consensus 3.5-point favorites and were never challenged.
"It was a losing weekend for us, but nothing massive," Avello said. "Just a small negative."
Notre Dame-Florida State drama
The controversial ending to the Notre Dame-Florida State game produced mixed results and reactions at Las Vegas sports books.
The Stratosphere sports book was loaded with Notre Dame fans Saturday night. Book supervisor Hugh Citron said a loud cheer went up after Irish quarterback
Everett Golson threw what appeared to be the winning touchdown. It was quickly followed by the sound of disappointment, when the touchdown was negated by an offensive pass interference call against Notre Dame that will be debated for years.
"There was definitely the loud cheer then the 'Aw, what?'" Stratosphere sports book supervisor Hugh Citron said. "There was the big cheer then the big letdown, because pretty much our whole room had Notre Dame and most of them had Notre Dame to win the game straight-up."
Florida State prevailed 31-27, but failed to cover as 9.5-point favorites. The Seminoles were around a minus-350 favorite to beat the Irish straight-up. Notre Dame led for majority of the game before falling behind for the first time with 7:39 left in the fourth quarter.
"We had a lot of money line bets on the Irish, and it looks like they got the raw end of the deal," Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill U.S., said.
At the Wynn, the bigger money line bets were on the favored Seminoles.
"I was high on Notre Dame money line at one point, but ended up going off high on the Florida State money line," John Avello, executive director of the Wynn sports book, said. "We could have used Notre Dame to win the game. We took a lot more tickets on the Notre Dame money line, but they were more like your $5,000 bets. The bigger bets, big five figures, were on Florida State. And it worked out for them, although maybe it shouldn't have."
Uncertainly surrounding Florida State quarterback
Jameis Winston kept the point spread off the board for much of the week at most sports books. CG Technology was one of the few to keep the game on the board and ended up taking lots of early Notre Dame money.
"We needed Florida State all week, but then we took a big Florida State bet five minutes before the game started to kind of even us out," Jason Simbal, vice president of race and sports of CG Technology, said.
The unstable point spread hurt the handle on Notre Dame and Florida at some shops. David Pemberton of Caesars Entertainment said "it was just another game at his shop." Marc Nelson of the Aliante said the action on the Irish and the Seminoles was very light at his shop.
"The game being off the board until Friday night greatly affected the handle on the game," Nelson said.
[h=3]College football report[/h]
[h=4]Risers[/h]
| Team | Last Week | Oct. 19 |
|---|
| Alabama | 7-1 | 5-1 |
| Mississippi | 8-1 | 5-1 |
| Oregon | 10-1 | 7-1 |
| Georgia | 10-1 | 6-1 |
| TCU | 50-1 | 15-1 |
| Kansas State | 50-1 | 25-1 |
| Arizona State | 300-1 | 75-1 |
| Utah | 500-1 | 100-1 |
<thead>
</thead> <tbody>
</tbody>
[h=4]Fallers[/h]
| Team | Last Week | Oct. 19 |
|---|
| Florida State | 5-1 | 7-1 |
| Notre Dame | 12-1 | 30-1 |
| Baylor | 12-1 | 25-1 |
| Oklahoma | 7-1 | 100-1 |
| Clemson | 100-1 | 300-1 |
<thead>
</thead> <tbody>
</tbody>
[h=3]Early Week 9 college football action[/h]
Alabama at Tennessee, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2): There was a difference of opinion on this SEC game between the first Las Vegas sports books to release point spreads this week. The Wynn opened Alabama as a 16-point road favorite over the Volunteers. CG Technology opened the Crimson Tide as 12.5-point favorites. By Monday morning, Alabama was a 15-point favorite at the Wynn and a 16.5-point favorite at CG Technology. This is the 62nd game consecutive game Alabama has been favored, the longest such streak in the modern era.
[h=4]Week 9 Early Line Moves[/h] (CG Technology opened its Week 9 college football lines at 6 p.m. PT Sunday.)
| Matchup | Opening | Monday |
|---|
| Kentucky at Mississippi State | Mississippi St -11.5 | Mississippi St -13.5 |
| Boston College at Wake Forest | Boston College -10 | Boston College -12 |
| Vanderbilt at Missouri | Missouri -23.5 | Missouri -21.5 |
| Massachusetts at Toledo | Toledo -16.5 | Toledo -14.5 |
| Alabama at Tennessee | Alabama -12.5 | Alabama -14.5 |
| Old Dominion at Western Kentucky | WKU -13.5 | WKU -11.5 |
| Ohio State at Penn State | Ohio State -11.5 | Ohio State -13.5 |
<thead>
</thead> <tbody>
</tbody>
[h=3]Odds and ends[/h]
<cite>Wendover Nugget Casino</cite>A picture of the winning ticket.
-- A bettor at the William Hill sports book at the Wendover Nugget casino hit a $10, 12-team parlay that paid $30,000 this weekend. The
