Many NFL bettors love to try to cash in with Peyton Manning and the Broncos. (Photo credit: CraigInDenver / Foter / CC BY-ND)
The past week in sports betting saw the Broncos come through for bettors on Sunday Night Football, the Patriots fall to the Packers in a potential Super Bowl preview, and Tiger-Cats bettors narrowly missing on a moneyline underdog cash.
Sports Interaction gives us a breakdown of what the last seven days were like for the sportsbooks, and takes a look ahead to the upcoming action.
What was last week like for Sports Interaction?
It was a good week. We did well on football and hockey, less well on basketball, and we took some licks in soccer. But it was a good week overall.
What was the biggest winner for players?
Denver winning and covering at Kansas City. Denver is always a public pick and, even though Kansas City has the best ATS record in the League at 9-3-0, the Chiefs haven’t lost to Denver since Tim Tebow was taking the snaps for the Broncos. The bettors did the math on that one.
What was the worst result for players?
Green Bay covering against New England. We had money coming in on the Patriots all week but the Pack held their home field. No disgrace to the Pats though, as they were always in that game. If that was a Super Bowl preview, as many were saying it could be before the game, we could be looking at the first pick’em Super Bowl in February.
The Grey Cup result was bad news for bettors too. If the Hamilton punt return touchdown had stood, at least the people who took the Tiger Cats as a moneyline ‘dog would have had something to celebrate. But that’s sports, I guess. Some things happen, and some things don’t.
What’s happening in other sports?
Fading the Lakers is still the way to go with our bettors. There could be a little emotion in those plays too, of course. Seeing the big dogs humbled, and all of that. We saw money coming in on Toronto during the week but events of the weekend might stem that flow a little.
In soccer, we’re seeing bets on the big public teams – Man City, Man United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich. These clubs are all bigger than their national boundaries anymore – they’re on a global scale.
Were there any big winners this week?
Yes sir. Over the weekend we saw what is a known in the trade as a whopper. A Sports Interaction member put down a nine-fold parlay on weekend soccer across three countries – Germany, England and Spain. It paid out at a sweet 225/1. Well done, that man or woman.
Finally, who does the public like this week?
First thing I noticed is that the public is of the opinion that either A) Brian Hoyer will start for the Browns, or B) Johnny Manziel isn’t as good as he thinks it is. Indianapolis opened as a -3.5 favorite at the Browns, and that’s already out to -4 now. Big money coming in on Denver, of course, and a lot of the early bettors are tempted by Oakland +8 at home against San Francisco. We’ll be monitoring that situation, as we certainly didn’t expect it.