Las Vegas sports books luck out with strong 49ers performance

Everyone had the afternoon 3-teamer at the South point book.

A three-team parlay pays 6/1 odds (Bet $100 to win $600) in Las Vegas and during Sunday's NFL Week 5 action almost everyone in town had a winning three-team combination in the afternoon games with the favorites of Arizona, New England and Denver covering.

“You just have to win one of those late game and things would be okay. Just one,” said theStratosphere's Hugh Citron.

All three of those favorites would cover the number and it set the books up with a huge risk figure heading into Sunday night's football game with the Giants as seven-point home favorites over the 49ers.

No one wanted the 49ers. Huge parlays were waiting to cash if the Giants beat down the traveling 49ers like everyone else had this season. Two San Francisco road games this season; average score: 12-45.

“We're looking at nearly a seven-figure loss on the day if the Giants cover with the OVER mixed in with the Rangers and OVER in pro baseball,” said MGM Resorts CP of race and sports Jay Rood as the late game was just getting started.

Following the Giants 30-27 win (no cover) and the Blue Jays 5-1 win in the ALDS, Rood and the rest of the sports book directors around town could take a deep breath of relief having just dodged a bullet. It still turned out to be a loss on the day, but it wasn't a complete disaster.

Things could have been much worse as the perfect storm was brewing with the public riding several popular teams.

Three squads -- Green Bay, Atlanta,Cincinnati – entered Week 5 with perfect 4-0 marks against the spread. Only the Packers would cover on the day among the three, but the timing of the late games and only three teams to choose from had everyone on the same parlay and books can't escape a 6/1 payout odds no matter how much wise guy money they might get on the other side.

The public had a no-brainer three-teamer in the afternoon. "Let's see. Three games kicking off after 1:00 p.m. PT, huh? Hmm, Arizona should kill the Lions. The Cowboys have no shot against the Patriots and Denver has beat the tar out of Oakland seven straight games. Yes, I'll have a three-team parlay for $20, please."

That type of betting sequence was happening all over Las Vegas from 12:30 to 1:05 pm on Sunday and for the third time in five weeks it was enough to beat the books. That's crazy stuff. The books don't lose in football consistently, but going 2-3 against the public is a pretty big deal in Las Vegas. The casino bean counters are now getting snarkier with their comments in weekly executive meetings.

I guess the comeback comment would be "at least I didn't lose $1 million."

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