Money is flowing into Nevada sports books for Super Bowl bets, and a good portion of it is being placed on the Philadelphia Eagles. So much so that facilities are adjusting the line to try and entice more wagers on New England.
So far it isn’t working. The line at most sports books opened at either 5.5 or 6 points for New England immediately after the NFC and AFC Championships. The Wynn even went as high as 6.5 points on Bill Belichick’s team.
That number dropped quickly as money was placed on the NFC champions. The line started to go lower a day later and places started adjusting accordingly.
Vice president of race and sports for MGM Resorts Jay Rood told CBS Sportsline the amount of action on the Eagles has been a little surprising.
“We were getting Eagles action all the way around. So we decided to go down and test the waters,” he said. “I was a little surprised to see the public going against the Patriots this hard, but I can understand why they see some value there.”
Big Bets on Underdog
The large wagers are starting to trickle in and many of those betting slips are for the Eagles. Rood told ESPN that one customer plunked down a multimillion-dollar bet on Philadelphia but didn’t provide any specific details.
Vegas Stats & Information Network reported that an anonymous gambler walked into South Point casino and put four money line bets totaling $500,000 on the Eagles. If they win it would come out to a $820,000 profit.
Not all of the early action has been on the underdog, however. The favored Patriots have taken on some large transactions. CG Technology, which operates at casinos including the Hard Rock, Palms, and Silverton, took three five-figure wagers on the defending champions.
Fluctuating Odds
Because of all the action, Vegas books have had to lower their lines even more than the initial modification. Some places have modified the number as much as two points.
CG Technology had an opening line of 6 points and held it there for a few days, going against the trend of lowering the line. With all the action, however, the company was forced to amend its odds and now it has dropped all the way to 4.5.
William Hill has only lowered their offering a point to 5, and has not reported any large wagers that would affect the line. The Wynn came way down from its high of 6.5 and now has their figure at 5, too.
Online operators are taking a more reserved approach. Most have set the odds at 5.5, and subsequent movement has been minimal. In some cases they have dropped a half-point to 5.
The adjustments are crucial to the bottom line of sports books. They have had a winning streak of nine consecutive years where they made a profit. Last year they made $10.3 million.