Weekly Review From Behind the Desk - 2024 Week 1 College Football

Here is a look from behind the counter at the BetAmapola sportsbook. These weekly articles will focus on high volume games, one way action, and which sides the big bettors tend to fall on. You can follow along at @BetAmapola on twitter so you can get a real time look at the action we are taking and where the money is at, along with any other juicy nuggets we can provide. Reminder: We are an online sportsbook with a physical resort and casino in Jaco Beach, Costa Rica. Come down and visit us as we would love for you guys to put a face to the name!

Big volume games:

The most bet games of the week from our side of the counter: The Clemson vs UGA game was by far the most wagered on game for the noon slate of games. Big Bettors came in hard on Clemson at +13 which moved the line 2.5 points down to +10.5 before kickoff. There was plenty of small bettors coming in on UGA and UGA first half, and the small bettors and the public got the best of that game as UGA looked unstoppable. Our first giant action came on Florida vs Miami FL, but this game was very double sided with the big bettors. This ended up being a win-win for the sportsbook. Miami looked incredible with their new transfers and is a team to monitor going forward in the playoff picture. Lastly, the night slate featured massive action on the ND vs A&M game. This is typical that the primetime night game will lead to big action as players look to continue their hot day or climb out of their hole. We took bets from big bettors on both sides and wound up almost even on the game, but the sportsbook made some coin with the dog ML coming in. A lot of bettors seem eager to just lay the juice on the favorite ML when the spread is under 3 for the sake of peace of mind.

One way games:

One of the largest one way games all week for us was PSU vs WVU. This game was a classic big bet vs little bet game, with the big bets coming in on WVU +9. Obviously this was a big win for the house as PSU came out and stomped them as they look to get into the CFB with the expanded format. The other big one way game was Indiana vs FIU, with the bettors all over Indiana and the house needing FIU. The bettors took home the cash, and we will touch on the insane ending of this game later in our BAD BEAT OF THE WEEK section.

Disaster games for the book:

One of the worst games for the house came on Thursday during the UNC vs Minnesota game. We opened the line Minnesota -2 and it got steamed all the way to UNC -2.5 by kickoff. This is a classic middle situation for the books, as most of the bets made on the game got paid out. Some might make the argument that the game moved through dead numbers (-2 to +2). While this can be true, we are seeing less and less dead numbers in both CFB and the NFL due to rule changes and how coaches are changing their style, sometimes going for 2. In the NFL, a lot of the key numbers have changed due to rule changes like the moved back XP which causes games to fall on 3, 4, and 7 less often than before. Something to look out for this week with the NFL starting back up!

BAD BEAT OF THE WEEK:

Now let’s return back to Indiana vs FIU that we spoke about earlier in which was one of our biggest loses. The line closed at IU -26 with almost 100% action on IU until we hit 26. In the final minute of the game with FIU down by 17 and with the ball at midfield, they went for it on 4th and 1 and got stopped. A first down there would have likely been the end of IU bettors hopes. What happened next was hard to watch: IU could have taken knees to end the game since FIU had no timeouts left, but chose to give their backups more snaps. They handed the ball off on what was essentially the last play of the game and the 3rd string running back took it 51 yards to the house. IU wins 31-7 on that play which was enough to barely cover the spread for most players. Congrats to all IU backers on the insane finish and cover. For FIU backers…..trust me, the sportsbook was right there with you feeling the PAIN.

Nuggets and Tidbits:

Teams that performed well in week 0 tended to be a bit over valued in the market, and vice versa.
Favs with a spread of -21 or more performed extremely well, especially in the noon slate of games going 6-1 in that time frame. This could be a factor of week 1 and the heavy favorites not wanting to take their foot off the gas so they can establish a team identity and gain confidence.

-Games that steamed in one direction early in the week had an extreme tendency to move back closer to the opening line as the game approached. This could be a factor of early week group think or even perhaps line manipulation while the limits are lower, allowing the big bettors to come in and grab a better number closer to game time.

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