Outside of a late field goal in the Big Apple, sportsbooks have few complaints the first full day of NFL action.
When the Indianapolis Colts covered as 3-point road underdogs Sunday night in New York, it signaled the end of a very successful first week for sportsbooks.
?The Colts were well bet and so was the over, so we gave back a decent chunk to our customers on that game,? says Bill Nevin from BetUSA.com.
?But it was still a great weekend. Getting Indianapolis beaten would have been the cherry on the cake though.?
As it was, the handle on Sunday?s games was up nearly 40 percent from opening week of 2005, with the dollar value hitting nearly 50 percent at one sportsbook.
Sunday night?s contest, dubbed the Manning Bowl between the Colts and New York Giants capped a full day of scheduling that included 13 games and marked the first time brothers Eli and Peyton started against each other.
The media hype surrounding the matchup generated the most action of any game on the board. The Colts hit a late field goal to secure their first win and payday of the 2006 season.
Having the game appear on Sunday night in prime time, without any other games to distract action, helped draw a large following from public bettors. As did the new scheduling by the NFL, in which the league promotes more viewer-friendly matchups.
?The schedule was changed for TV and that creates more action for us,? says BetCRIS linesmaker Shane Catford.
In turn, that action moves the lines on such games as the New England and Buffalo game.
Money on the Patriots pushed the line up almost two points. The Patriots closed as 9 ?-point home favorites after opening at ?8 as many teased the game down to New England ?7 for a better chance at a payday.
New England did win, but only by two points.
?The actual game itself was nothing special. A lot of people took 7-point teasers so it would have been better if Buffalo won by 1 or 2 points,? says Catford. ?But apart from that it was still a decent game.?
The best result of the day belonged to Jacksonville Jaguars bettors. Action on the Dallas Cowboys swung the spread four points in favor of the Cowboys, who closed as 1-point favorites.
But in the end, the Jaguars and sportsbooks walked away with a 24-17 victory.
?The Dallas result was excellent because they seem to be a big public team this season and there was a lot of sharp money for them as well as square action,? says Nevin.
?A lot of wise guys went on Dallas too so it was good to take their money,? adds Catford. ?Give it to the public because they?re usually on the home favorite in those ones too.?
When the Indianapolis Colts covered as 3-point road underdogs Sunday night in New York, it signaled the end of a very successful first week for sportsbooks.
?The Colts were well bet and so was the over, so we gave back a decent chunk to our customers on that game,? says Bill Nevin from BetUSA.com.
?But it was still a great weekend. Getting Indianapolis beaten would have been the cherry on the cake though.?
As it was, the handle on Sunday?s games was up nearly 40 percent from opening week of 2005, with the dollar value hitting nearly 50 percent at one sportsbook.
Sunday night?s contest, dubbed the Manning Bowl between the Colts and New York Giants capped a full day of scheduling that included 13 games and marked the first time brothers Eli and Peyton started against each other.
The media hype surrounding the matchup generated the most action of any game on the board. The Colts hit a late field goal to secure their first win and payday of the 2006 season.
Having the game appear on Sunday night in prime time, without any other games to distract action, helped draw a large following from public bettors. As did the new scheduling by the NFL, in which the league promotes more viewer-friendly matchups.
?The schedule was changed for TV and that creates more action for us,? says BetCRIS linesmaker Shane Catford.
In turn, that action moves the lines on such games as the New England and Buffalo game.
Money on the Patriots pushed the line up almost two points. The Patriots closed as 9 ?-point home favorites after opening at ?8 as many teased the game down to New England ?7 for a better chance at a payday.
New England did win, but only by two points.
?The actual game itself was nothing special. A lot of people took 7-point teasers so it would have been better if Buffalo won by 1 or 2 points,? says Catford. ?But apart from that it was still a decent game.?
The best result of the day belonged to Jacksonville Jaguars bettors. Action on the Dallas Cowboys swung the spread four points in favor of the Cowboys, who closed as 1-point favorites.
But in the end, the Jaguars and sportsbooks walked away with a 24-17 victory.
?The Dallas result was excellent because they seem to be a big public team this season and there was a lot of sharp money for them as well as square action,? says Nevin.
?A lot of wise guys went on Dallas too so it was good to take their money,? adds Catford. ?Give it to the public because they?re usually on the home favorite in those ones too.?
