Vegas looks to recover after a brutal NFL opening weekend

According to many Vegas insiders and experts, Nevada sportsbooks were hit hard by the betting public as the NFL’s opening weekend games concluded with a Dallas Cowboys victory over the New York Giants 28-27 on NBC’s ‘Sunday Night Football’ broadcast.

Last season, NFL underdogs finished 10-3 against the spread after all the games finished on that opening Sunday. That number made a complete 180 this past Sunday, with the favorites turning the tables on Vegas sportsbooks en route to going 9-4 against the spread.

Winners and Losers ATS

It is unclear just how much Vegas lost, but if preliminary reports ring true, the damage could be somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars easily. My near “lock of the week” hit easily as the Packers covered at -6.5 points at Chicago and the Dolphins covered their 4-point spread against the Redskins. Those 2 games were some of the most heavily bet on in Las Vegas, with the Bengals also taking in a lot of action as they walked into Oakland and covered their spread easily by winning 33-13.

Favorites weren’t the only ones stealing the show on Sunday though. Professional bettors were reportedly betting a lot of money on the Giants-Cowboys and Seahawks-Rams games, with a lot of action going towards the Giants and Rams, respectively. Both of these games have historically been very close in the past few years so it wasn’t a surprise to see those types of sums being put down on those particular underdogs.

Jason Simbal , the CG Technology VP of Race and Sports, elaborated on those larger wagers even further when he told ESPN.com that his book alone took in bets in the 5- and 6-figure range on the underdog Rams covering against the Seahawks. The Rams fought tooth and nail throughout the game and scored an upset in the process by winning 34-31 in overtime.

Will Vegas recover in the long-term this season?

Vegas looks to recover after a brutal NFL opening weekend

Las Vegas is hoping to recoup some of those winnings tonight as there is already a lot of betting slips being printed out for two primetime matchups on Monday Night Football. There will be a lot of heavy action on Philly (currently at -3 ATS) winning on the road in Atlanta, but that game could be a toss up as both offenses prep their players for a potential offensive shootout. The second part of the MNF doubleheader will feature the Vikings visiting the 49ers, where Minnesota is a 1.5 point favorite over San Francisco.

While the books look to recover in the weeks ahead, something tells me that the house will prevail as they normally do in these situations. 2014 saw Vegas sportsbooks win almost $114 million from the betting public and it’s not out of the realm of possibility it could happen again by the time the 2015 season concludes.