If you knew someone who ran a sports book in Nevada yesterday, chances are he or she was smiling.
"It shaped up as a very good day," said Kenny White, chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sports Consultants. "It was probably the best day for the sports books this season."
White said the four favorites that went down in the 1 p.m. games - Washington, Minnesota, Chicago and Houston - knocked out many of the teaser bets, as well as parlays teamed with the 4 o'clock games.
As for the four favorites that covered, two of them played teams - Oakland (at New Orleans) and Baltimore (at Indianapolis) - that attracted a lot of money. The bettors had so much action on the Ravens, the line dropped from seven to four favoring the Colts, who romped, 31-3.
"That was good for the books," White said.
The same was true for Tampa Bay's being bet down to a 11/2-point favorite against Carolina. The Buccaneers won, 27-3.
Among the four late-afternoon games, the Eagles were the only team that covered the spread (41/2).
"Denver was a pretty popular wager," White said. "The line went up [from 3] to 31/2 but they went down" to Jacksonville, 24-17.
Green Bay received some attention after it was known that Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck would not play "but it was not that huge," White said. The Packers won, 27-17.
As for tonight's game, White said that the line favoring the New York Giants over the Cleveland Browns has gone from 61/2 to 8, and may reach 9, 91/2 or even 10 by the time the betting closes.
--by Joe Juliano
Staff Writer
Philadelphia Inquirer
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
page E15