No one is feeling sorry for the sportsbooks, but they did take the biggest hit of the NFL season this weekend.
The big game that put everything over the top was … the big game: the Kansas City Chiefs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Chiefs closed as underdogs, but the public loved them.
At DraftKings, 69 percent of the bets and 60 percent of the money was on the Chiefs, who prevailed 41-31. The book also took a $490 same game parlay bet (Chiefs +1.5, Over 47.5, Kelce 1st TD scorer and Fournette, Evans and Edwards-Helaire as anytime TD scorers) that paid out $98,490.
"It was the customers' turn this weekend, and that happens over the course of 18 weeks," said DraftKings director of trading Johnny Avello. "Ultimately, it was the Chiefs game that got us, not only because of the disparity in splits on that one, but because a lot of our players had the Chiefs tied into a significant number of parlays. When players do well with the parlay bet, it's a good sign for the general public."
Paying out +105 on the Chiefs moneyline also added to DraftKings' deficit. One bettor put $27,520 on the Chiefs and netted $28,896.
At PointsBet, the Cardinals covering as one-point underdogs against the Panthers made the day worse. Not only was 80 percent of the spread money on Arizona, who won 26-16, but 75 percent of the money line (+100) was.
Sportsbooks also lost on the totals, as it was the first week the overs hit.
For the first three weeks, 63 percent of totals were on the under and, with the public generally rooting for offense, the books came out winners. But in Week 4, the overs have gone 8-7 so far.
Games that saved the books from slipping further? The Patriots, 9.5 point underdogs against the heavily bet on Packers, only lost by 3. Sportsbooks were also helped by two dogs — the Falcons and the Jets — who won outright.
