Betting on the Green Bay Packers a Killer to Sportsbooks
The public was all over the Green Bay Packers to win the NFC Championship and cover the -3 to -4 point spread. Not that the Las Vegas sportsbooks were crippled, but they certainly felt the pain.
"The Green Bay money just kept coming in at a 21/2-to-1 clip," Caesars Palace sports analyst Todd Fuhrman told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Bill Ordine. "Some big bets came in on the Bears late, but other than that, it's all Packers."
Likewise, Jay Rood, MGM Resorts sportsbook director relayed prior to the game: "The betting on the Packers has been real heavy, with no relief in sight.”
The Packers were made early favorites both in Vegas and online. The Internet bookmakers first posted a line of Green Bay -2.5 but it moved within a half hour to -3 at most establishments.
While Chicago mounted a comeback during the 4th quarter, Jay Cutler’s early game injury and failure to return pretty much sealed the outcome of this game.
Matt Youmans of the Las Vegas Review Journal writes:
The clearest danger in betting the Bears in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday was banking on Cutler, who has been much more of a whiner than a winner during his turbulent times in the NFL.
As for the early betting action on the 2011 Super Bowl, the spread action was fairly balanced though Green Bay was getting closer to 60 percent at some online books. The real danger might be with the OVER 46 getting 75 percent of the backing. Total score betting in the Super Bowl tends to be significant.
- Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
