Vegas sportsbooks need Virginia Tech
David Purdum, ESPN Staff Writer
BYU's Hail Mary cashed a $50,000 ticket, the Fordham-Army point spread moved 10 points in the wrong direction, and a sophisticated player's big bet on Purdue went up in flames with an early-season bad beat. College football season has arrived in Las Vegas.
On Sunday, at sportsbook CG Technology, four times more money was bet on Purdue-Marshall than on any of the day's baseball games. Singled out on Sunday, the rather uninspiring Big Ten-Conference USA matchup also attracted more money than any baseball game at William Hill's Nevada sportsbook.
"It's football," CG Technology vice president of risk Jason Simbal said Sunday afternoon. "We took one bet [on Purdue] from a sophisticated customer, who bet more than the total handle that we've taken on any of the baseball games to this point."
The sophisticated customer took Purdue plus-7 and endured an opening-week gut punch when Marshall returned an interception 55 yards for a covering touchdown with 1:30 to play. Purdue led by four points late in the fourth quarter before the Thundering Herd scored 14 points in the final three minutes in a 41-31 win.
As is traditional with college football, the opening week also featured some attention-grabbing line movement. On Friday afternoon, Army opened as a 3.5-point favorite over Fordham. An influential betting syndicate released Army as one of its plays. In four hours, Army had grown to a 14-point favorite over Fordham. Fordham won 37-35, one of seven underdogs to win straight up in an opening week that produced mixed results for Vegas sportsbooks.
Minnesota covering the spread in a loss to TCU on Thursday, combined with Friday underdogs SMU, Western Michigan and Washington all staying within the number, had the books in a strong position heading into the weekend. But bettors battled back on Saturday.
"It was a players' day," Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading at William Hill, said. "All the late games -- Alabama, Notre Dame and USC -- went against us. We were in a good position after the morning games, then gave it all back. It was all just a big waste of time."
Things were so tough at the MGM's sportsbook, vice president Jay Rood joked that he had to take Sunday off to "lick his wounds."
"We just got beat up," Rood said. "A few house guests beat us. Northwestern didn't go our way, the BYU money line didn't help; that was a back breaker. Bama didn't go our way. We didn't have much go our way."
Rood acknowledged that the sportsbook would indeed be open for the NFL this week.
CG Technology fared better, despite paying out a $50,000 money line ticket on underdog BYU, which beat Nebraska on a Hail Mary touchdown pass from a backup quarterback as time expired. BYU could be found as high as plus-230 on the money line last week in Las Vegas. CG Technology still came out ahead.
"The largest parlay that hit [Saturday] was only $8,000," Simbal said. "We take approximately a half a million dollars on parlays on a Saturday, and to not to have any parlay hit for over $8,000 is crazy."
Stanford now 100-1
Stanford received some big-money support to win the national championship leading up to the season in Vegas. The MGM took a $3,000 bet on the Cardinal at 100-1 during the summer, before the odds moved down to 30-1 entering Saturday's game, and both the Westgate SuperBook and CG Technology reported taking four-figure futures bets on the Cardinal at long odds. Stanford lost at Northwestern 16-6 and fell from 30-1 back to 100-1 to win the national championship at the SuperBook.
Other movers and fallers at the SuperBook:
• Michigan dropped from 100-1 to 500-1.
• Penn State went from 300-1 to 5,000-1.
• Texas fell from 200-1 to 1,000-1.
• Notre Dame improved from 15-1 to 12-1.
• Texas A&M improved from 100-1 to 60-1.
• Arizona State fell from 200-1 to 300-1.
• Nebraska dropped from 100-1 to 1,000-1.
'We're going to need Virginia Tech for our lungs'
As of Sunday afternoon, eight times more money had been wagered on Ohio State than home underdog Virginia Tech at CG Technology.
The defending-champion Buckeyes were 14-point favorites at almost all sportsbooks Monday morning. The point spread saw some movement in early August, after Ohio State coach Urban Meyer announced the suspensions of five players, including star defensive end Joey Bosa. The number dropped to as low as 10.5 but has steadily been on the way back up.
"We're going to need Virginia Tech for our lungs," Bogdanovich of William Hill said. SuperBook football oddsmaker Ed Salmons said because of the number of live parlays tied into Ohio State on Monday night, his shop was practically in a no-win situation.
"We're going to lose unless Virginia Tech wins the game straight up," Salmons said. "It's just a carry-over effect from the whole weekend."
Home underdogs went 2-9-1 against the spread in Week 1. Virginia Tech is 7-1 against the spread as a home dog over the past 20 years. The Hokies won five of those eight games straight up. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer is 18-7 against the spread as a home underdog in his career.
Meyer is 35-9 against the spread with more than one week to prepare, including 7-3 ATS in season openers.
Week 2 opening lines
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David Purdum, ESPN Staff Writer
BYU's Hail Mary cashed a $50,000 ticket, the Fordham-Army point spread moved 10 points in the wrong direction, and a sophisticated player's big bet on Purdue went up in flames with an early-season bad beat. College football season has arrived in Las Vegas.
On Sunday, at sportsbook CG Technology, four times more money was bet on Purdue-Marshall than on any of the day's baseball games. Singled out on Sunday, the rather uninspiring Big Ten-Conference USA matchup also attracted more money than any baseball game at William Hill's Nevada sportsbook.
"It's football," CG Technology vice president of risk Jason Simbal said Sunday afternoon. "We took one bet [on Purdue] from a sophisticated customer, who bet more than the total handle that we've taken on any of the baseball games to this point."
The sophisticated customer took Purdue plus-7 and endured an opening-week gut punch when Marshall returned an interception 55 yards for a covering touchdown with 1:30 to play. Purdue led by four points late in the fourth quarter before the Thundering Herd scored 14 points in the final three minutes in a 41-31 win.
As is traditional with college football, the opening week also featured some attention-grabbing line movement. On Friday afternoon, Army opened as a 3.5-point favorite over Fordham. An influential betting syndicate released Army as one of its plays. In four hours, Army had grown to a 14-point favorite over Fordham. Fordham won 37-35, one of seven underdogs to win straight up in an opening week that produced mixed results for Vegas sportsbooks.
Minnesota covering the spread in a loss to TCU on Thursday, combined with Friday underdogs SMU, Western Michigan and Washington all staying within the number, had the books in a strong position heading into the weekend. But bettors battled back on Saturday.
"It was a players' day," Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading at William Hill, said. "All the late games -- Alabama, Notre Dame and USC -- went against us. We were in a good position after the morning games, then gave it all back. It was all just a big waste of time."
Things were so tough at the MGM's sportsbook, vice president Jay Rood joked that he had to take Sunday off to "lick his wounds."
"We just got beat up," Rood said. "A few house guests beat us. Northwestern didn't go our way, the BYU money line didn't help; that was a back breaker. Bama didn't go our way. We didn't have much go our way."
Rood acknowledged that the sportsbook would indeed be open for the NFL this week.
CG Technology fared better, despite paying out a $50,000 money line ticket on underdog BYU, which beat Nebraska on a Hail Mary touchdown pass from a backup quarterback as time expired. BYU could be found as high as plus-230 on the money line last week in Las Vegas. CG Technology still came out ahead.
"The largest parlay that hit [Saturday] was only $8,000," Simbal said. "We take approximately a half a million dollars on parlays on a Saturday, and to not to have any parlay hit for over $8,000 is crazy."
Stanford now 100-1
Stanford received some big-money support to win the national championship leading up to the season in Vegas. The MGM took a $3,000 bet on the Cardinal at 100-1 during the summer, before the odds moved down to 30-1 entering Saturday's game, and both the Westgate SuperBook and CG Technology reported taking four-figure futures bets on the Cardinal at long odds. Stanford lost at Northwestern 16-6 and fell from 30-1 back to 100-1 to win the national championship at the SuperBook.
Other movers and fallers at the SuperBook:
• Michigan dropped from 100-1 to 500-1.
• Penn State went from 300-1 to 5,000-1.
• Texas fell from 200-1 to 1,000-1.
• Notre Dame improved from 15-1 to 12-1.
• Texas A&M improved from 100-1 to 60-1.
• Arizona State fell from 200-1 to 300-1.
• Nebraska dropped from 100-1 to 1,000-1.
'We're going to need Virginia Tech for our lungs'
As of Sunday afternoon, eight times more money had been wagered on Ohio State than home underdog Virginia Tech at CG Technology.
The defending-champion Buckeyes were 14-point favorites at almost all sportsbooks Monday morning. The point spread saw some movement in early August, after Ohio State coach Urban Meyer announced the suspensions of five players, including star defensive end Joey Bosa. The number dropped to as low as 10.5 but has steadily been on the way back up.
"We're going to need Virginia Tech for our lungs," Bogdanovich of William Hill said. SuperBook football oddsmaker Ed Salmons said because of the number of live parlays tied into Ohio State on Monday night, his shop was practically in a no-win situation.
"We're going to lose unless Virginia Tech wins the game straight up," Salmons said. "It's just a carry-over effect from the whole weekend."
Home underdogs went 2-9-1 against the spread in Week 1. Virginia Tech is 7-1 against the spread as a home dog over the past 20 years. The Hokies won five of those eight games straight up. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer is 18-7 against the spread as a home underdog in his career.
Meyer is 35-9 against the spread with more than one week to prepare, including 7-3 ATS in season openers.
Week 2 opening lines
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| GAME | OPEN | MONDAY A.M. |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon at Michigan State | Michigan St -1.5 | Michigan St -3 (-120) |
| Oklahoma at Tennessee | Oklahoma -1 | Oklahoma -1 |
| LSU at Mississippi State | LSU -3.5 | LSU -3 |
| Oregon State at Michigan | Michigan -15 | Michigan -14 |
| Boise State at BYU | Boise St -1.5 | Boise St -2.5 |
| Kentucky at South Carolinaa | South Carolina -8 | South Carolina -8.5 |
| East Carolina at Florida | Florida -14 | Florida -18 |
| Fresno State at Ole Miss | Ole Miss -24 | Ole Miss -27.5 |
| Kansas State at Texas-San Antonio | Kansas St -22.5 | Kansas St -19.5 |
| Appalachian State at Clemson | Clemson -21 | Clemson -18 |
| Notre Dame at Virginia | Notre Dame -9 | Nortre Dame -10.5 |
| Memphis at Kansas | Memphis -10.5 | Memphis -13.5 |
| Middle Tennessee St at Alabama | Alabama -36.5 | Alabama -36 |
| North Texas at SMU | North Texas -1 | SMU -2.5 |
| UTEP at Texas Tech | Texas Tech -16.5 | Texas Tech -20.5 |
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