MGM Resorts were the second group of Las Vegas sports books to post NFL season win totals for the 2012 campaign, one day after Cantor Gaming posted theirs.
Despite six of the Cantor numbers running wild in Wednesday’s action, it’s apparent that MGM Resorts sports book director Jay Rood stayed strong with the numbers he and his staff created with little regard for what was posted in the city already.
Rood posted several huge differences compared to Cantor and also used a .20 cent line compared to the .30 cent split Cantor was offering. One of the numbers that ran yesterday at Cantor was the Panthers being bet OVER 7½ wins until settling at over-135. The bettors who pushed the number probably wish they could have waited a day because MGM Resorts posted 7 under-120.
But that’s the beauty about being first like Cantor was. They get action on teams with no other barometer to go on. It’s just one-on-one, sports book vs. bettor with no market number telling the bettor what is a good play or not.
“That’s kind of why we started putting the totals out so early,“ said Rood who set a limit of $5,000 on the NFL totals. “We got tired of just getting scalp plays, so we thought we would open it earlier and get more volume that was the type of action we wanted.”
Rood’s books did very well on the season wins last season, but estimates that close to 50% of all the totals they lost came from bettors just scalping numbers.
“The best thing that has come out of it all is that we generate huge action on the totals that makes it similar to the type we receive in a regular season week, so it’s almost like having a Week 18 for us,” Rood said.
Hardly any of the numbers between the sports book chains are the same. Of the 32 teams posted, MGM and Cantor have the same number on only 7. Most of the differences are a half-point, but in the case of three teams, it’s a whole game difference.
Cantor posted 9 over-120 on the Falcons while MGM opened with 10 under-120. Cantor opened the Bengals at 7½ over-130 and MGM opened 8½ under-120. Cantor opened the Titans 7 over-130 and MGM went with 8 under-120.
Bettors have a huge angle to play here with middle opportunities. They can bet both sides and have a great shot at free-money by pushing on one team and winning the other with the two most probable records teams like the Falcons and Titans might end up having with this year.
Should the Bengals finish 8-8, bettors with the OVER at Cantor win, and bettors with the UNDER at MGM win. No pushes here; two winners at the most probable record the Bengals will finish with.
If looking to play the Bengals with that angle, you’d better hurry. Because as Jerry Glanville said, both those numbers will be available “NFL…not for long”.
The early action at MGM Thursday afternoon came on the Buccaneers UNDER just as it did at Cantor on Wednesday, except bettors got the extra half-win at MGM. If the Bucs win 6 games, they’ll push at Cantor and win at MGM.
Bettors also jumped on the Panthers OVER 7 wins just as they had done at Cantor except they got a better number today at MGM by a half-game.
The next wave of action will be at the LVH Super Book this weekend.