David Purdum, ESPN Staff Writer 5y

Notable bets: Patriots, Falcons, Eagles hurt NFL bettors

NFL, null, College Football, NBA

Notable bets is a regular Monday roundup of wagers -- some sharper than others -- made recently at sportsbooks across the nation.

For those who were concerned about the well-being of the bookmakers after last week's "disaster," there is good news out of Las Vegas. 

"We went from the worst day loss I've seen in 32 years to the best week of the season," Jeff Stoneback, MGM sportsbook director, said Sunday afternoon.

Bill Sattler, director of specialty games for Caesars Entertainment, said Sunday was the "complete opposite of last week."

"However," Sattler added, "last week was so bad that we won't recoup what we lost, but still a solid Sunday."

I know everyone is relieved.

Here are this week's notable bets:


NFL

• More bets were placed on the New England Patriots point spread against the Tennessee Titans than had been placed on any single team in any game this season at Station Casinos sportsbooks in Nevada. The underdog Titans won 34-10.

• "The Patriots' loss to the Titans was great for the house," Station sportsbook director Jason McCormick said. "Lots of money-line parlays and teasers went down, which was key after the huge week the bettors had last week."

• According to iconic oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro, the South Point sportsbook took a $10,000, six-team money-line parlay on the Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Green Bay Packers and ... the  Patriots. The bet would have paid just under $33,000, per Vaccaro's Twitter feed. 

• Ninety minutes before kickoff, 90 percent of the money bet on the New England-Tennessee point spread was on the Patriots at William Hill sportsbooks in Nevada and New Jersey.

• "Titans outright was probably the biggest decision on an early game we have had all year," said Tim Fitzgerald, sportsbook supervisor at South Point.

• The Titans' upset of the Patriots produced the third-largest win of the NFL season for DraftKings sportsbook in New Jersey.

• About 30 percent of all NFL parlay bets included the Patriots to cover on the moneyline at DraftKings.

• The Cleveland Browns' upset of the Atlanta Falcons produced the biggest win of the day for MGM sportsbooks.

• "The public was all over the Falcons," the MGM's Stoneback said. "Then we had a large player also bet on the Falcons, so the combination of him and the public made it a really good game for us."

• Shortly after posting last week's NFL opening lines, the SuperBook took a $60,000 bet on the Jacksonville Jaguars +3.5 against the Indianapolis Colts. Down six points with four minutes to go, Jacksonville got a 55-yard field goal from kicker Josh Lambo (and a missed 52-yard FG from Adam Vinatieri) to lose 29-26 and cover the spread.

• "After early games last Sunday, we knew we would finish the day losing no matter what happened in late games," Sattler said. "This week after early games, we knew we would finish with a winning day even if we lost every single late game."

• The point spread on the Miami Dolphins-Packers afternoon game grew from -10.5 all the way to -13 right before kickoff. The favored Packers won and easily covered the spread 31-12.

• "There was a lot of late Packers action," a Caesars sportsbook manager said in an email. "A lot of people re-upped into parlays and teasers in the late games, after the Patriots and Falcons busted up their morning."

• "Morning was fantastic," McCormick of Station Casinos said. "Afternoon, not so much as Chargers, Packers and Seahawks were all heavily bet."

• The Chargers (-10), Packers (-13) and Seahawks (+9) each covered the spread in the late afternoon games.

• A bettor at the SuperBook last week placed a $40 bet on the Oakland Raiders to win the Super Bowl this week at 10,000-1 odds. Seems risky.

• "We had some very large parlays this week. We had a casino guest who was firing away, $25,000 and $50,000 parlays," the MGM's Stoneback said. "He had, I would say, about a dozen parlays. Honestly, I don't think he hit one. He had one that needed the Rams in the first half to win about $300,000."

• The Rams, who were 6.5-point favorites in the first half against the Seahawks, led 17-14 at halftime.

• An hour before kickoff of the prime-time game between the underdog Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, 6.5 times as much money had been bet on the Eagles as had been bet on the Cowboys at MGM books. "There's a ton of parlays on the Eagles also," Stoneback said.

• "We will need the Cowboys and under (45) tonight," McCormick of Station Casinos said prior to kickoff.

• Dallas won 27-20, capping the bounce-back Sunday for the sportsbooks.


College football

• Saturday was the most costly of the college football season at the SuperBook, according to sportsbook director John Murray. "[We] saw big public money come in on Ohio State, Washington State and Clemson," Murray said. "Ugly day in college football here." The Buckeyes, Cougars and Tigers each covered the spread.

• Alabama was a high as a 26.5-point favorite over Mississippi State but closed as just a 22.5-point favorite at MGM. The Crimson Tide won 24-0. "We had all the sharp money on the 'dog with the point spread," Stoneback said. "Then on the weekend, when the line was knocked down to 22.5 and 23, the public was all over Alabama on the parlays. So when it fell 24-0, we got middled and it just wiped out the whole day."

• Alabama improved to 10-0 against the spread in the first half this season. The Crimson Tide, who were favored by as many as 16 in the first half against Mississippi State, led 21-0 at halftime. On the final drive of second quarter, Mississippi State drove to the Alabama 1-yard line but failed to score.

• Temple covered 11 straight first-half spreads in 2016, the longest such streak since 2004, according to betting archive BetLabsSports.com. 

• South Point reported a "break-even day" on Saturday, the first positive Saturday for bettors this season, Fitzgerald said: "And it took until November."

• A bettor at the Flamingo in Las Vegas on Saturday risked $3,500 to win $100 on Alabama beating Mississippi State straight.

• Notable Week 12 CFB openers from Caesars Palace:

Syracuse at Notre Dame -9.5
Duke at Clemson -27
Iowa State at Texas -3
USC -2.5 at UCLA

• Alabama hosts The Citadel this week. No line had been posted as of Sunday. Here are the largest point spreads, according to ESPN Stats & Information:  

• Updated line on the potential national championship game matchup at the SuperBook: Clemson vs. Alabama -7.5.

• Updated line: Michigan -3.5 at Ohio State, Nov. 24.


Tiger vs. Phil

• Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will square off in an 18-hole match-play event Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving, in Las Vegas. After opening as a short -125 favorite, Woods is now up to -210, with Mickelson listed at +175 at MGM sportsbooks.

• MGM books are offering a bevy of prop bets on the pay-per-view match, including hole-by-hole wagering.

Some props already posted:

• Will there be a hole-in-one? 100-1

• Longest drive on 18th hole:

Woods -140
Mickelson +120 

• Closest to the pin on 17th hole:

Woods -110
Mickelson -110

• Woods had attracted roughly 50 percent more money than Mickelson at MGM books as of Sunday.

Odds and ends

• College basketball: Duke's impressive opening rout of Kentucky last week caused the SuperBook to shorten the Blue Devils' odds to win the national championship from 5-1 to 7-2. A bettor placed a $2,000 bet on Duke at 7-2, pushing the odds down to 5-2. The SuperBook took another $2,000 bet at that price, as well as a $1,000 wager on the Blue Devils.

• NBA: The Philadelphia 76ers went from 30-1 to 16-1 to win the NBA title with the reported acquisition of Jimmy Butler. A bettor at the SuperBook took the 76ers at the adjusted price for $1,000, prompting the book to trim the Sixers to 12-1.

A bettor at FanDuel's sportsbook hit a 10-leg parlay that paid $19,911.95 this week. The $175.99 wager was placed Thursday and included a mix of NHL, NBA, college football and college basketball wagers.

The legs:

NHL
Buffalo Sabres +1.5 (-240) at Montreal Canadiens
Minnesota Wild +1.5 (-300) at Los Angeles Kings
Over 5.5 (-120) San Jose Sharks at Dallas Stars

NBA
Portland Trail Blazers -230 vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Boston Celtics -550 at Phoenix Suns

NFL
Pittsburgh Steelers -3.5 (even) vs. Carolina Panthers

NCAAF
Bethune-Cookman -260 vs. NC Central
Wake Forest +18.5 at NC State

NCAAB
Morehead State +13.5 at Connecticut
Illinois -15 vs. Evansville

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