Alabama BCS Title Game Win not So Good For Las Vegas Sports Books

by Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

The combination of lingering parlay cards cashing on Alabama from the last four weeks of action and the day-of small action on Alabama made the 37-21 Crimson Tide win over Texas in the BCS Title game a tough day for the Las Vegas Books.

Even though there were plenty of large wagers on Texas, most books were still rooting for the Long Horns because of the extended risk created by the public’s majority perception.

Most of the Las Vegas Sports Books had up to five different weeks of parlay cards that had to be posted within the system all at once Thursday night and the results were not pretty.

“Every week, people were throwing in Alabama or Texas at the end of their parlays and if they hit their first few games the payouts with Alabama winning payout at odds of 11 to 1, 20 to 1 and higher. We would have lost with either Alabama or Texas,” said Coast Resorts Director of Race and Sports Bob Scucci.

Those kind of odds couldn’t be made up even with the meaty futures win that were posted on Alabama which traditionally have an expected hold of around 35%.

Ticket count ratios were reported at 5/1 and higher for the game on Alabama. Combine that loss with the extended risk on the cards, and wagers made on the day of -- most of which always take the favorite and over regardless of who is playing -- and it makes for a bad Thursday night in the Vegas Books.

For a brief moment, there appeared to a game changing moment regarding the spread when Texas scored late in the fourth quarter making it 24-19 with the extra-point pending. Some in the public, with Alabama tickets, were actually looking for Texas to kick the extra point. There were a few that were able to lay the 3.5, but most laid either 4 or 4.5-points.

It’s funny how some in the public think and root for things to happen that will never occur. What’s even funnier is that people like that actually bet on the game and have no football sense whatsoever. This is, of course, the same person who had Alabama and over parlayed, so who’s smart now?

Anyway, Texas did go for two -- and got it -- and you could hear a collective moan from the Sports Book crowd and a silent fist pump in unison by bookmakers across the Valley.

Well, you know how the rest went. A 24-21 game late in the fourth quarter, with the under 46 still winning, quickly turned into a 37-21 Alabama and over win.