Debut of ATS standings, plus weekend wrapup
It's a cliche that when people ask who won a football game in Las Vegas, the automatic response is "did they cover?" That's how we keep score here.
Most football fans everywhere know that the Patriots, Colts, Steelers, Cowboys and Packers were 3-0 in the standings after Sunday's games, but it takes a Vegas-like point of view to know that among those teams the Colts are not undefeated against the spread, and that the Texans, Cardinals and Vikings have also not lost vs. the spread. And while you might know that the Rams, Falcons, Bills and Dolphins are 0-3, did you know that the Rams are the only one of those that are 0-3 against the spread, or that the Ravens, Broncos and Bears are also 0-3 for bettors. The Bears' ATS record shouldn't surprise anyone, but the Ravens and Broncos are both 2-1 with two wins in which they didn't cover the spread. Here's the debut of this year's ATS Standings.
The Titans are 2-0 against the spread heading into Monday night's game at New Orleans, with the Saints at 0-2.
Other interesting notes from the chart include:
* The Vikings have pushed two times with 3-point losses the past two weeks and are 1-0-2 against the spread. The Dolphins also have two pushes — in Weeks 1 and 3 — and are 0-1-2.
* Six teams are exactly .500 at 1-1-1.
* The Colts are 1-2 against the spread in the chart, though a lot of people got a push with them at -6 vs. the Texans on Sunday (and some smart, early bettors laid 5.5 or less and actually won on them) . However, note that these records are based on the closing odds at the Las Vegas Hilton.
* The last column is each team's Over/Under record. The Patriots, Cowboys, Browns and Raiders are all 3-0 with the over (hmmm, makes me think I might have bet that Browns-Raiders game over if I had know that beforehand). The Redskins, Rams, Vikings and Chiefs are listed at 0-3, so that can also be read as 3-0 with the under (ditto on the Vikings-Chiefs under).
* For the morbidly curious, ties in the ATS Standings were broken by head-to-head matchup (thus the Buccaneers ahead of the Panthers), then by straight-up record, over/under record and then by the whims of the author (Ravens ahead of the Broncos since Baltimore's win are slightly better than Denver's). No coin flips.
Pigskin Postmortem
NFL underdogs went 7-5-3 against the spread on Sunday. The losing record for favorites would usually mean a big day for the sports books here in Las Vegas, but those three pushes (all of which were on 3-point home favorites that won by three: the Chiefs over Vikings, Jets over Dolphins and Seahawks over Bengals) ate up most of their profits and then some.
For one thing, games that land on the number lead to a lot of refunded tickets, but it also means that bettors who got the benefit of times when it wasn't on the number or on parlay cards (for instance, the Chiefs had been -2 and -2.5 earlier in the week and the Seahawks closed +3.5 at a lot of books) cashed their tickets. In addition, with so many games landing around the numbers (four other games were within a 6-point teaser either way), the books were faced with lines of happy bettors.
Heading into Monday night's game with the Saints -4 vs. the Titans, underdogs are 25-17-5 against the spread on the young season.
* Scoring was up on Sunday as the overs went 11-4 on the day
Early line-move report
The action was fast and furious when opening lines were posted Sunday night for this upcoming weekend's football games.
The Texans opened PK vs. the Falcons at the Stratosphere and -1.5 at the Hilton but were bet to 3-point favorites.
The Seahawks opened at PK vs. the 49ers at the Hilton and even as 1-point underdogs at the Stratosphere but were bet to 1-point favorites.
In yet another pick-em opener, the Packers have been bet to 2-point road favorites over the Vikings.
The Bears were -3 vs. the Lions at the Strat and bet to 4 before they kicked off vs. the Cowboys. Later, that line was back to 3 and the Palms even lowered it to Bears -2.5 on Monday morning.
The Steelers opened -3 (-125) vs. the Cardinals at the Stratosphere and -3 (-120) at the Hilton
In the Monday night game, the Patriots opened -5 at the Hilton were all the way up to -7 by late Monday morning.
* In the colleges, the Stratosphere and Leroy's were the only ones to put up lines on Sunday night. At the Strat, bettors backed West Virginia from -6 to -7 over South Florida in their revenge game Friday night, Florida from -17 to -18 vs. Auburn, Tulsa from -17 to -18 vs. UAB and Rutgers from -13 to -14 vs. Maryland (this line was as high as 16.5 at the Hilton late Monday morning). There were also six dogs that were backed: Mississippi St. from +15 to +14 vs. South Carolina, Temple +8 to +7 vs. Army, Northern Illinois +3 to +2 vs. Central Michigan, Utah St. +22 to +21 vs. Utah, UNLV +4.5 to +4 vs. Nevada, Kent St. +3 to +2 vs. Ohio, and New Mexico +7 to +6 vs. BYU.
And the rest . . .
Carl Edwards won the Dodge Dealers 400 Nextel Cup race at Dover International Speedway on Sunday as the 11-1 seventh choice at Station Casinos.
* Steve Flesch was the winner of the PGA Tour event at Turning Stone in Verona, N.Y., as a 30-1 price at the Las Vegas Hilton. It was a minor event with no superstars and a lukewarm favorite at 20-1, so it was wide-open.
* Chuck Liddell was upset in a UFC bout Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., as a heavy favorite. Keith Jardine was available at +250 at the Palms. The card was hyped by the name "UFC 76: Knockout" but the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Adam Hill told me that since all but one of the fights shown on the pay-per-view telecast went the distance, he was going to call it "UFC 76: Irony."
* Check out the Oddsmakers' Top 30 college football pool by Las Vegas Sports Consultants as teams move up and down the rankings. You might recall that before the season that while the coaches and media polls had Michigan #5, this poll didn't think they were quite that good and had them at #11.
* Tuley the Tout has a recommendation in tonight's Angels-Rangers game. The Angels clinched the AL West on Sunday and he (or me, since it's my alter ego) usually fades a team the next night after clinching a playoff spot, but this might be a spot where the oddsmakers have adjusted too much as the Angels are getting .
Most football fans everywhere know that the Patriots, Colts, Steelers, Cowboys and Packers were 3-0 in the standings after Sunday's games, but it takes a Vegas-like point of view to know that among those teams the Colts are not undefeated against the spread, and that the Texans, Cardinals and Vikings have also not lost vs. the spread. And while you might know that the Rams, Falcons, Bills and Dolphins are 0-3, did you know that the Rams are the only one of those that are 0-3 against the spread, or that the Ravens, Broncos and Bears are also 0-3 for bettors. The Bears' ATS record shouldn't surprise anyone, but the Ravens and Broncos are both 2-1 with two wins in which they didn't cover the spread. Here's the debut of this year's ATS Standings.
| Team (SU record) | ATS | O/U |
| Patriots (3-0) | 3-0 | 3-0 |
| Cowboys (3-0) | 3-0 | 3-0 |
| Steelers (3-0) | 3-0 | 2-1 |
| Packers (3-0) | 3-0 | 1-2 |
| Texans (2-1) | 3-0 | 2-1 |
| Cardinals (1-2) | 3-0 | 2-1 |
| Titans (1-1) | 2-0 | 0-2 |
| Vikings (1-2) | 1-0-2 | 0-3 |
| Buccaneers (2-1) | 2-1 | 1-2 |
| Panthers (2-1) | 2-1 | 2-1 |
| Browns (1-2) | 2-1 | 3-0 |
| Lions (2-1) | 1-1-1 | 2-1 |
| Seahawks (2-1) | 1-1-1 | 1-2 |
| Redskins (2-1) | 1-1-1 | 0-3 |
| Bengals (1-2) | 1-1-1 | 2-1 |
| Jets (1-2) | 1-1-1 | 2-1 |
| Chiefs (1-2) | 1-1-1 | 0-3 |
| Colts (3-0) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| 49ers (2-1) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Jaguars (2-1) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Chargers (1-2) | 1-2 | 2-1 |
| Eagles (1-2) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Raiders (1-2) | 1-2 | 3-0 |
| Giants (1-2) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Falcons (0-3) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Bills (0-3) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Dolphins (0-3) | 0-1-2 | 2-1 |
| Saints (0-2) | 0-2 | 1-1 |
| Ravens (2-1) | 0-3 | 2-1 |
| Broncos (2-1) | 0-3 | 2-1 |
| Bears (1-2) | 0-3 | 1-2 |
| Rams (0-3) | 0-3 | 0-3 |
The Titans are 2-0 against the spread heading into Monday night's game at New Orleans, with the Saints at 0-2.
Other interesting notes from the chart include:
* The Vikings have pushed two times with 3-point losses the past two weeks and are 1-0-2 against the spread. The Dolphins also have two pushes — in Weeks 1 and 3 — and are 0-1-2.
* Six teams are exactly .500 at 1-1-1.
* The Colts are 1-2 against the spread in the chart, though a lot of people got a push with them at -6 vs. the Texans on Sunday (and some smart, early bettors laid 5.5 or less and actually won on them) . However, note that these records are based on the closing odds at the Las Vegas Hilton.
* The last column is each team's Over/Under record. The Patriots, Cowboys, Browns and Raiders are all 3-0 with the over (hmmm, makes me think I might have bet that Browns-Raiders game over if I had know that beforehand). The Redskins, Rams, Vikings and Chiefs are listed at 0-3, so that can also be read as 3-0 with the under (ditto on the Vikings-Chiefs under).
* For the morbidly curious, ties in the ATS Standings were broken by head-to-head matchup (thus the Buccaneers ahead of the Panthers), then by straight-up record, over/under record and then by the whims of the author (Ravens ahead of the Broncos since Baltimore's win are slightly better than Denver's). No coin flips.
Pigskin Postmortem
NFL underdogs went 7-5-3 against the spread on Sunday. The losing record for favorites would usually mean a big day for the sports books here in Las Vegas, but those three pushes (all of which were on 3-point home favorites that won by three: the Chiefs over Vikings, Jets over Dolphins and Seahawks over Bengals) ate up most of their profits and then some.
For one thing, games that land on the number lead to a lot of refunded tickets, but it also means that bettors who got the benefit of times when it wasn't on the number or on parlay cards (for instance, the Chiefs had been -2 and -2.5 earlier in the week and the Seahawks closed +3.5 at a lot of books) cashed their tickets. In addition, with so many games landing around the numbers (four other games were within a 6-point teaser either way), the books were faced with lines of happy bettors.
Heading into Monday night's game with the Saints -4 vs. the Titans, underdogs are 25-17-5 against the spread on the young season.
* Scoring was up on Sunday as the overs went 11-4 on the day
Early line-move report
The action was fast and furious when opening lines were posted Sunday night for this upcoming weekend's football games.
The Texans opened PK vs. the Falcons at the Stratosphere and -1.5 at the Hilton but were bet to 3-point favorites.
The Seahawks opened at PK vs. the 49ers at the Hilton and even as 1-point underdogs at the Stratosphere but were bet to 1-point favorites.
In yet another pick-em opener, the Packers have been bet to 2-point road favorites over the Vikings.
The Bears were -3 vs. the Lions at the Strat and bet to 4 before they kicked off vs. the Cowboys. Later, that line was back to 3 and the Palms even lowered it to Bears -2.5 on Monday morning.
The Steelers opened -3 (-125) vs. the Cardinals at the Stratosphere and -3 (-120) at the Hilton
In the Monday night game, the Patriots opened -5 at the Hilton were all the way up to -7 by late Monday morning.
* In the colleges, the Stratosphere and Leroy's were the only ones to put up lines on Sunday night. At the Strat, bettors backed West Virginia from -6 to -7 over South Florida in their revenge game Friday night, Florida from -17 to -18 vs. Auburn, Tulsa from -17 to -18 vs. UAB and Rutgers from -13 to -14 vs. Maryland (this line was as high as 16.5 at the Hilton late Monday morning). There were also six dogs that were backed: Mississippi St. from +15 to +14 vs. South Carolina, Temple +8 to +7 vs. Army, Northern Illinois +3 to +2 vs. Central Michigan, Utah St. +22 to +21 vs. Utah, UNLV +4.5 to +4 vs. Nevada, Kent St. +3 to +2 vs. Ohio, and New Mexico +7 to +6 vs. BYU.
And the rest . . .
Carl Edwards won the Dodge Dealers 400 Nextel Cup race at Dover International Speedway on Sunday as the 11-1 seventh choice at Station Casinos.
* Steve Flesch was the winner of the PGA Tour event at Turning Stone in Verona, N.Y., as a 30-1 price at the Las Vegas Hilton. It was a minor event with no superstars and a lukewarm favorite at 20-1, so it was wide-open.
* Chuck Liddell was upset in a UFC bout Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., as a heavy favorite. Keith Jardine was available at +250 at the Palms. The card was hyped by the name "UFC 76: Knockout" but the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Adam Hill told me that since all but one of the fights shown on the pay-per-view telecast went the distance, he was going to call it "UFC 76: Irony."
* Check out the Oddsmakers' Top 30 college football pool by Las Vegas Sports Consultants as teams move up and down the rankings. You might recall that before the season that while the coaches and media polls had Michigan #5, this poll didn't think they were quite that good and had them at #11.
* Tuley the Tout has a recommendation in tonight's Angels-Rangers game. The Angels clinched the AL West on Sunday and he (or me, since it's my alter ego) usually fades a team the next night after clinching a playoff spot, but this might be a spot where the oddsmakers have adjusted too much as the Angels are getting .
Comments