With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers not cooperating, the MGM sportsbook in Las Vegas was left hoping Mother Nature would be able to stop the Denver Broncosfrom delivering one of the book's biggest losses on a choppy Sunday for the house.
The favored Broncos led 27-7 with 6:52 remaining in the fourth quarter when inclement weather moved in, forcing the game to be suspended.
Like most Las Vegas sportsbooks, house rules at the MGM stipulate that 55 minutes must be played for bets to be official. If Sunday's game in Tampa had not been resumed, it would have been 1 minute, 52 seconds short of reaching 55 minutes, and all bets -- the majority of which were on the Broncos at the MGM, including a six-figure money-line wager -- would have been refunded.
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</aside>"No such luck," lamented MGM vice president of race and sports Jay Rood, who took six times as many bets on the Broncos as the Buccaneers.
Nearly 70 percent of the money bet on the game at William Hill's Nevada sportsbook was on Denver. The sportsbook at the Stratosphere reported similar lopsided action on the Broncos.
The game resumed after just over an hour delay, and Denver finished off an easy win as a 3.5-point favorite, much to the delight of a deep-pocketed MGM casino guest, who after losing big on New England in the early slate, cleaned up on the Broncos. Rood said the high-roller's bets ranged from five to six figures.
"He was all over the place [on Denver], money-line, first halves, parlays," Rood said. "He's hitting everything. He's pretty much got his bankroll in play."
The Broncos also took a bite out of the book at the South Point Casino, but director Chris Andrews, despite the loss, was happy the game resumed so he didn't have to deal with angry Denver bettors, who would have seen what looked like a sure winner turned into a refund. "In all honestly, I'm glad they're finishing the game, just so I don't have to put up with it," Andrews said with a chuckle. "I'd rather lose the money and not have to put with all the [expletive]."
Overall on Sunday, Las Vegas sportsbooks reported getting off to a good start to the day, with upsets by underdogs Buffalo, Chicago and Atlanta producing big early wins. But the Broncos' and the Dallas Cowboys' covering the spread in the afternoon games sucked up most of the books' early profit.
Nick Bodganovich, director of trading for William Hill, characterized the day as a "wash."
"Early games were great, late ones were not," added Stratosphere sportsbook manager Hugh Citron.
The favored Broncos led 27-7 with 6:52 remaining in the fourth quarter when inclement weather moved in, forcing the game to be suspended.
Like most Las Vegas sportsbooks, house rules at the MGM stipulate that 55 minutes must be played for bets to be official. If Sunday's game in Tampa had not been resumed, it would have been 1 minute, 52 seconds short of reaching 55 minutes, and all bets -- the majority of which were on the Broncos at the MGM, including a six-figure money-line wager -- would have been refunded.
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</aside>"No such luck," lamented MGM vice president of race and sports Jay Rood, who took six times as many bets on the Broncos as the Buccaneers.
Nearly 70 percent of the money bet on the game at William Hill's Nevada sportsbook was on Denver. The sportsbook at the Stratosphere reported similar lopsided action on the Broncos.
The game resumed after just over an hour delay, and Denver finished off an easy win as a 3.5-point favorite, much to the delight of a deep-pocketed MGM casino guest, who after losing big on New England in the early slate, cleaned up on the Broncos. Rood said the high-roller's bets ranged from five to six figures.
"He was all over the place [on Denver], money-line, first halves, parlays," Rood said. "He's hitting everything. He's pretty much got his bankroll in play."
The Broncos also took a bite out of the book at the South Point Casino, but director Chris Andrews, despite the loss, was happy the game resumed so he didn't have to deal with angry Denver bettors, who would have seen what looked like a sure winner turned into a refund. "In all honestly, I'm glad they're finishing the game, just so I don't have to put up with it," Andrews said with a chuckle. "I'd rather lose the money and not have to put with all the [expletive]."
Overall on Sunday, Las Vegas sportsbooks reported getting off to a good start to the day, with upsets by underdogs Buffalo, Chicago and Atlanta producing big early wins. But the Broncos' and the Dallas Cowboys' covering the spread in the afternoon games sucked up most of the books' early profit.
Nick Bodganovich, director of trading for William Hill, characterized the day as a "wash."
"Early games were great, late ones were not," added Stratosphere sportsbook manager Hugh Citron.
