Sports Betting Public Reeling After Monday Night Games
The sports betting public got a break Sunday afternoon and evening following big wins with heavily wagered on favorites Minnesota, Dallas, Green Bay and New Orleans. They were not so lucky Monday night however.
"Monday was a blood bath for sports bettors and another big winning day for the online bookmakers," reveals Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.
The last two weeks of College Football have been among the best ever for bookmakers with nearly every publicly backed team failing to cover.
"Week 1 was bad enough," says Shapiro. "Week 2 made the situation historic."
And just when it appeared the wagering public had bounced back with its NFL bets, Monday night delivered two crushing blows with both New England and San Diego failing to cover against teams deemed early to be amongst the worst in the league, Buffalo and Oakland.
The New England Patriots entered their Monday Night game as 3/1 favorites to win the 2010 Super Bowl at BetUS.com.
The Pats nearly lost to Buffalo. Trent Edwards outperformed Brady for much of the game and threw for two scores. A 10-yard screen pass TD to Fred Jackson put Buffalo ahead 24-13 with 5:32 to go -- even though its new spotlight-grabber, Terrell Owens, barely caused a ripple.
Bills player Leodis McKelvin fumbled a kickoff return with under two minutes to play and the Bills leading 24-19, ultimately causing Buffalo to lose the game. New England's Tom Brady hit Benjamin Watson for the go-ahead touchdown as the Patriots overcome an 11-point deficit in the final 2:06.
Police confirmed that McKelvin's lawn had been vandalized on Tuesday but probably not from any sports bettor since Buffalo still managed to cover despite the loss (unless of course the perpetrator or perpetrators in question had Buffalo on the money line).
New England spread bettors needed the team to cover a -10 ½ line against Buffalo.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
