Although the big books in Las Vegas and elsewhere in Nevada took minor losses over the first weekend of college football games, the industry in general was celebrating the return of their biggest money maker to the giant screens.
The double-whammy of NFL & NCAA Football is now officially underway and both the books and the bettors are smiling. An optimistic Bert Osborne, the sports book director at South Point, said, “You know what, though, I’m very happy about how the day went. Sure I would have liked to win, but I was greatly encouraged by the high handle on the day and how full our room was. Football is back.”
The first round of college games featured a few tight contests…and a few surprises… but, in general, one sided games with predetermined finales prevailed. Normally, it is the favorite and the over that rules the day. But, college football favorites went only 24-19 against the spread (ATS).
Most of the big books did lose a little over the four days of games that reacquainted sports fans everywhere with the thrill that goes along with a good football game. No other sport is quite like it. The big college stadiums these days are holding upwards of 100,000 screaming fans and the excitement in the air is contagious.
The books also got a little reminder over the weekend that public bettors tend to gravitate towards just 2 or 3 games during a week… if one or two of those games don’t work out their way, a losing day is likely to occur.
Both Alabama and LSU covered leaving the possibility of some winning parlays open for bettors. Odds up to 6-to-1 were available.
The Las Vegas local players have their favorite places to hang out and watch the games. Books such as South Point are always at a higher risk when a big public parlay hits because their local players like to go for big payouts on small wagers. Players can turn a $5 bet into $55 on a good four-team parlay.
Out on the strip, the action is usually mostly with tourists and parlay action is rare as the larger part of their entire handle is taken from straight wagers. Even here, the tourist bettors usually come out ahead in the long run because of the difference in hold percentages between the local books and those on the strip.
