Big Line Rolls Out On Colts
Indianapolis favored by 18.5 vs. Houston
By MATT YOUMANS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
It's a given Sunday the Houston Texans will suffer a beatdown at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.
And the oddsmakers are not messing around with this game.
The undefeated Colts are 18 1/2-point home favorites, easily the biggest number of the season in the NFL.
"We really made that line as high as possible. They probably will take the Texans because they haven't seen a point spread as high as that," Stardust sports book director Bob Scucci said.
"The teams that were expected to be bad are getting worse, and the good teams are getting better. We're seeing the good teams dominate. So much for parity in the NFL."
Scucci opened Indianapolis as a 19-point favorite. He said sharp money is showing up on Houston, but twice as many tickets have been written on the favorite, most of those small bets.
The Colts were 15-point favorites when they beat the Texans 38-20 on Oct. 23.
After last weekend, the fear of betting favorites is not so great. Favorites were 14-0 straight up and 10-3-1 against the spread. Only Jacksonville, Kansas City and San Diego did not cover the spread, and Chicago pushed as a 3-point favorite.
Carolina was favored over Tampa Bay all week, but a late push for the Buccaneers moved them to 1-point favorites. The Panthers rolled to a 34-14 victory. "I really don't even count the Buccaneers as a favorite because more public money was on the Panthers," Scucci said.
All the favorites winning is a formula for disaster for the books because parlays, teasers and public money are generally stacked on that side.
"We were literally one game away from seeing one of the worst days in sports book history," Scucci said, referring to the Chargers beating the New York Jets 31-26 but not covering as 7-point favorites.
"Otherwise it would have been Armageddon for the sports books."
Professional bettors will be hunting for underdogs the rest of the season, figuring the trend must reverse as the lines get more inflated.
Indianapolis favored by 18.5 vs. Houston
By MATT YOUMANS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
It's a given Sunday the Houston Texans will suffer a beatdown at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.
And the oddsmakers are not messing around with this game.
The undefeated Colts are 18 1/2-point home favorites, easily the biggest number of the season in the NFL.
"We really made that line as high as possible. They probably will take the Texans because they haven't seen a point spread as high as that," Stardust sports book director Bob Scucci said.
"The teams that were expected to be bad are getting worse, and the good teams are getting better. We're seeing the good teams dominate. So much for parity in the NFL."
Scucci opened Indianapolis as a 19-point favorite. He said sharp money is showing up on Houston, but twice as many tickets have been written on the favorite, most of those small bets.
The Colts were 15-point favorites when they beat the Texans 38-20 on Oct. 23.
After last weekend, the fear of betting favorites is not so great. Favorites were 14-0 straight up and 10-3-1 against the spread. Only Jacksonville, Kansas City and San Diego did not cover the spread, and Chicago pushed as a 3-point favorite.
Carolina was favored over Tampa Bay all week, but a late push for the Buccaneers moved them to 1-point favorites. The Panthers rolled to a 34-14 victory. "I really don't even count the Buccaneers as a favorite because more public money was on the Panthers," Scucci said.
All the favorites winning is a formula for disaster for the books because parlays, teasers and public money are generally stacked on that side.
"We were literally one game away from seeing one of the worst days in sports book history," Scucci said, referring to the Chargers beating the New York Jets 31-26 but not covering as 7-point favorites.
"Otherwise it would have been Armageddon for the sports books."
Professional bettors will be hunting for underdogs the rest of the season, figuring the trend must reverse as the lines get more inflated.
