Many bettors made money on Alabama's destruction of Missouri in the SEC championship game. (Photo credit: paul dougherty / Foter / CC BY-ND)
Each week, a Sports Interaction betting analyst drops by to give us a review of the past week and look ahead to upcoming betting action.
Here’s this week’s conversation:
What was the biggest winner for players?
We have an unusual one this week – the biggest winner for players was Alabama stomping all over Missouri in the SEC Championship game. The line was -14 and Alabama covered at a stroll, 42-13. Missouri never had a chance, really.
Now, the SEC Championship game didn’t have the biggest handle of any event – that’s always going to be an NFL game – but it did have the biggest payout for players, which is a little unusual for a non-NFL game. That’s how good ‘Bama are, I guess. A team of Mr Reliables.
What was the worst result for players?
Buffalo at Denver, without question. Denver have been a big public pick all season, and whatever fears people might have had of the Broncos failing, nobody expected them to fail against Kyle Orton and the Buffalo Bills. But Peyton Manning’s touchdown streak was stopped and, while Denver still won, 24-17, they did not cover the -10 line. We held a lot of money on that one.
What’s happening in other sports?
In basketball, word has broken that the Raptors aren’t too bad this year. We saw a lot of action on them all during the week. In hockey, Edmonton continues to be a popular fade. Fight fans did pretty good in the Lawler – Hendricks bout at UFC 181, with Lawler winning the welterweight title by a split decision.
Were there any big winners this week?
We had a player land an 85/1 four-fold parlay. He or she bet the Patriots and Cardinals straight up, and also bet on two draws – New England and the LA Galaxy to draw in the MLS Final, and Anaheim and Winnipeg to draw on an NHL regulation-time bet. People say ties are boring, but the payouts are always good on them.
Finally, who does the public like this week?
I saw a news report about lines moving in Vegas when word broke that Johnny Manziel would start for the Browns. I can’t speak for Vegas, but I can say the announcement didn’t cause a twitch with us. That game isn’t taking much action – neither the Bengals nor the Browns are the most reliable of teams.
We’re currently seeing strong action on New England to cover -7.5 at home to Miami, and Green Bay to cover -4.5 at Buffalo. We had seen good early action on Carolina -6 at home to Tampa Bay, but Cam Newton’s car crash means that’s now off the boards until we get more news.