Sharp money helps elevate Raiders to favorite status
Move off pick’em for season opener
The Raiders were favored in only three games this year when the lines on their inaugural season in Las Vegas were first posted at the city’s sportsbooks. Now make that four.
In the biggest line move of Week 1 of the NFL season, the Raiders are 3-point favorites over the Panthers after the line opened at pick’em for Sunday’s season opener at Carolina.
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Sharp money helped push the line to 3 on Sunday at William Hill, where Carolina opened as a 1½-point favorite, and the line moved to 3 (-120) on Monday at most Las Vegas books.
“And it’s probably headed to 3½,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said. “It’s a combination of sharps and the public. They all like the Raiders.”
Westgate vice president of risk Jeff Sherman also attributes some of the line move to injuries on Carolina, which could be without two starters in left guard Dennis Daley and cornerback Eli Apple.
South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews doesn’t agree with the line move.
“Not really. I agree with the opening line,” he said. “A lot of people are very down on the Panthers.”
The Raiders also are favored in three home games at Allegiant Stadium: by 2 over Denver on Nov. 15, by 2½ over the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 17 and by 4 over Miami on Dec. 26 or 27.
Other line moves
■ The Chiefs are down to 9-point favorites over the
Texans after the line opened at 10½ in the NFL’S Thursday night season opener.
■ The Steelers are 6-point road favorites over the Giants on Monday after the line opened at 3½.
The Broncos-titans matchup on Monday is down to pick’em after Denver opened as a 2½-point favorite.
■ The Seahawks are 2½-point favorites over the Falcons after the line opened at 1.
■ The Lions are 3-point favorites over the Bears after the line opened at 1½.
“People are high on the Lions and getting off the Bears,” Andrews said.
Circa overlay
Circa Sports has seen a recent surge in contest sign-ups. But the downtown sportsbook still faces a $1.5 million overlay in its two $1,000-entry NFL handicapping contests.
Circa had 1,760 entries Monday in its Circa Sports Million II contest, which needs 3,000 entries to meet its $3 million guarantee.
The book had 722 entries in its Circa Survivor contest, which needs 1,000 entries to meet its $1 million guarantee.
“I’d imagine we’d get 2,500 Circa Million entries and pretty close to the 1,000 mark in Survivor based on the current glide path we are on,” Circa sportsbook operations manager Jeff Benson said.
The Westgate also has seen an uptick in entries in its three NFL handicapping contests.
The book has 731 entries in its $1,500-entry Super Contest,
31 in its $5,000-entry, winnertake-all Supercontest Gold and 42 in its Supercontest Reboot, a $500-entry contest covering Weeks 9 to 17.
Djokovic defaults
U.S. Open favorite Novak Djokovic defaulted Sunday after accidentally striking a line judge in the throat with a ball he hit in frustration over a lost game in his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta.
Djokovic was a -4,000 favorite in the match, meaning a bettor would have to wager $4,000 to win $100. No. 20 seed Busta was a 14-1 underdog. South Point and William Hill refunded wagers on the match, per house rules that require a tennis match to be completed for action. The Westgate graded Busta as the winner and Djokovic the loser, per house rules that a tennis match is action after it begins.
All futures bets on Djokovic, who opened as a -125 favorite to win the U.S. Open, are losers.
Sherman said the book wrote only a couple small tickets on Busta and didn’t take much futures action on Djokovic.
“We don’t write too much on tennis,” he said. “It’s more popular with European books.”