Unless Nevada's largest sports book can attract some money on Pittsburgh, the MGM will be facing one of its biggest decisions of the NFL season, when the Steelers host the underdog Houston Texans on "Monday Night Football." (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
As of late afternoon Sunday, the MGM had taken a few hundred thousand dollars in bets on the Texans compared to only $3,000 on the Steelers.
"Literally, $3,000 [on Pittsburgh]," Jay Rood, vice president of MGM race and sports, told ESPN. Rood said he took four limit bets from professionals and multiple six-figure plays from house players on the Texans. Limits vary from player to player but are generally $50,000 at the MGM. Larger limits are often extended to casino guests.
"We're going to have to send a couple guys out with sandwich boards to walk through the casino, trying to get a bet on Pittsburgh," Rood said with a chuckle. "The wiseguy community is definitely on Houston."
With the majority of the action placed in the hours leading up to kickoff on Monday night, there's plenty of time for Pittsburgh money to even the MGM out a little bit. The Steelers began Monday as a 3.5-point favorite at the MGM, while the majority of other books were offering Pittsburgh minus-3.
Rood said Sunday that he was hesitant to the move point spread down to the key number of minus-3 and instead had elected to increase the juice to minus-125 on the Texans. (In order to win $100 on Houston, a bettor would have to wager $125).
"If I go down to 3 and it happens to fall on 3, then nothing was accomplished," Rood explained. "It's going to be interesting to see if I can attract any money whatsoever on the Steelers."
The Thursday and Monday prime-time games have been rough on the books. Favorites are 9-5 against the spread combined on Thursday and Monday. Eleven of the 14 Thursday and Monday games have eclipsed the over/under total. Throw in the Sunday night games, and 17 of 21 prime-time games this season have gone over the total. Rood said his shop hasn't come out ahead on a Monday night game this season. He's hoping that changes tonight. "If you wanted to supplement your 401(k), you should have been on every move on Mondays and every over," Rood said. "Forget about the stock market; bet the prime-time games as square as you can and you'll win."
The big decision on tonight's game caps a rather nondescript football weekend for the MGM and other books across Las Vegas. Some shops reported a small win; others came up mildly short. The late games, particularly the Dallas Cowboys' win and cover against the New York Giants, clinched a losing day for the Wynn. The Denver Broncos' easy win and cover over the San Francisco 49ers did not help the books, either. But the St. Louis Rams' upset of the Seattle Seahawks certainly did.
Approximately 89 percent of bets on the Seattle-St. Louis game were on the Seahawks at the Westgate SuperBook, according to head football oddsmaker Ed Salmons. Seattle closed as a consensus 7-point favorite and lost straight-up 28-26.
"That was the end of a ton of parlays and teasers," Salmons said.
It was also the second straight loss for the defending champion Seahawks, who are no longer the Super Bowl favorites at most Vegas sports books. That title belongs to Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
The Indianapolis Colts' 27-0 blowout of the Cincinnati Bengals produced the biggest win for the bettors. The Colts closed as consensus 3.5-point favorites and were never challenged.
"It was a losing weekend for us, but nothing massive," Avello said. "Just a small negative."
