Page 2 - Jeff Stoneback News Today

David Purdum takes a look at the weekend in betting, including the wild line movement leading up to the Buccaneers-Patriots game.

When March Madness went quiet in Las Vegas When March Madness went quiet in Las Vegas Sportsbooks went dark on March 19, 2020, during one of the busiest times of the year.  Photo courtesy of Art Manteris A year ago, Art Manteris was sitting alone in the back of his sportsbook at Red Rock Resort and Casino. He had been booking bets in Las Vegas since the late 1970s, but he had never seen anything like this. He shouldve been in the thick of the madness of the opening Thursday of the NCAA tournam...

No basketball bet embodies the excitement and unpredictability of March Madness like the First to 15 prop. Also known as “Race to” props, which can differ in point range (Race to 20, Race to 30), this unique wager is a favorite among college basketball fans due to its quick-hitting thrills and simplicity: Just pick which team will score 15 points first. After Round 1, the lower-seeded team has won the First to 15 prop in 19 of the 31 games (with one game being canceled). The higher-seeded t...

Feb 8, 2021 - 8:43 AM ET Super Bowl LV betting has come and gone, and leading up to kickoff we tracked the biggest bets on Super Bowl and saw a handful of million-dollar "major wagers" hit sportsbooks throughout Super Bowl week. There was a late flurry of big Super Bowl bets. About 3.5 hours before kickoff, William Hill US took a $1.16 million bet on Chiefs moneyline -155 in Las Vegas. Then shortly before kickoff, BetMGM reported a $2.5 million Chiefs moneyline -165 wager, along with a $1 mill...

With a quarterback who had starred in more TV commercials than playoff wins, the Cleveland Browns were a popular punch line. But if one game can change a storyline, Baker Mayfield is no longer an overhyped underachiever and the butt of jokes. Mayfield can enjoy a few laughs at the expense of the Steelers, who paid the price for disrespecting an underdog. Mayfield’s three touchdown passes helped Cleveland rock Pittsburgh 48-37 on Sunday in an upset that proved costly for the betting public. Th...

A last-second touchdown by the Bears gave underdog players some hope Sunday, but Chicago did not attempt a conversion, costing many a win or a push at the window.

Less than 24 hours before kickoff on Sunday against the New York Jets, four of the Cleveland Browns leading receivers were ruled out because of COVID-19 protocols. The Browns were already expected to be without half of their offensive line and a couple of linebackers. Yet some sportsbooks still couldnt buy a bet on the Jets. Cleveland was favored by 9.5 points before the news about the wide receivers. The line settled at Cleveland -6.5 after Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones...

One bettor in New Jersey saw it coming -- way back in September. Leading up to the NFL season, FanDuel offered odds on when teams would notch their first win of the year. In September, a bettor placed a $100 wager on the Jets to win their first game in Week 15 against the Rams at 120-1. The bet paid $12,100 after the Jets stunned the Rams 23-20. From 1978 to 2017, underdogs of 17-plus-points won only three times, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. With the Jets upset on Sunday, ...

Entering Week 14, NFL underdogs had posted a winning record against the spread in eight of the past nine weeks. Overall, underdogs had covered the spread in 56.9% of games this season, a mark that would be the best in any season since 1980, according to ESPN Stats and Information research. Unfortunately for the betting public, theyve never been overly fond of the underdogs -- certainly not this season, and it has resulted in what one veteran Las Vegas bookmaker called his "best NFL season." Wee...