At numerous notable Nevada sportsbooks, “sharp” bettors — handicappers who generally bet bigger and better than the general public — have taken a side in Sunday’s Jacksonville-Denver game.
And they are not backing the overwhelming favorite.
Professional bettors have preferred Jacksonville — an underdog of nearly four touchdowns — to Denver, two oddsmakers said Saturday.
In an email this afternoon, Jay Kornegay, the vice president of race and sports book operations at the LVH Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, said most of the betting on Jacksonville-Denver “has come from the sharps(,) and they are taking the points.”
Jay Rood, the vice president of race and sports at the MGM Resorts International sports books, reported that sharp bettors took the underdog when Denver was favored by 28 points.
According to The Linemakers of Sporting News and VegasInsider.com, which track Nevada point spreads, Denver is most commonly a 27-point favorite at some of the state’s major sports books.
At that price, any result in which Jacksonville lost by 26 points or less — or won outright — would result in a point spread win for the backers of the underdog.
Denver is not completely without support. According to Rood, the betting public has backed Denver this week. That hasn’t been as much the case at the LVH’s SuperBook, however.
“Casual players have stayed away from this game,” Kornegay said. “They don’t like to wager on the Jaguars and have supported the Broncos all season long but don’t want to lay those kind of points.”
Rood reports that the betting revenue on Denver-Jacksonville has been “average,” with Kornegay calling it “light.” However, Rood said he expected more money to come in on Denver on Sunday.
Now, we wait to see where this massive point spread closes. If it stays at its current level, it will best the Philadelphia-New England line of 2007, which closed at 25 points, according to Marc Lawrence’s 2013 Stat and Log Book.