Record Month For Football...Followed By Worst Week

Sportsbooks and sports wagering aren’t, typically, the epicenter for casino profit. That’s usually left to the other gambling, but things were different in September. Football wagering made more money in the casino then any other game including baccarat which usually tops casino earnings.

Customers wagered $312.7 million alone on college and professional football. Of that, casinos collected $43.5 million, an increase of 271.6 percent over September 2011.

Football betting has been trending upward and here are some reasons why.

September 2012 had one extra weekend than September 2011, which meant two extra days of football betting which helped boost wagering totals.

(Gaming Control Board senior research analyst Michael) Lawton said that in discussions with sports book operators, he was told the betting public tends to wager more on the favorites against the point spread. However, favorites in both college football and the National Football League did not fare as well against the point spread during September. That led to a more profitable month for the sports books.

The hold by the sports books on all wagers was 12.69 percent in September. A year ago, the hold was 5.82 percent. Lawton said 5 percent hold is considered normal.

Some of that success was erased last week as the sportsbooks had their worst week ever.

“It was the worst day I’ve ever seen that involved regular season in the NFL,” (William Hill spokesman Jimmy) Vaccaro said…

…“We actually probably had the best eight weeks I’ve ever been involved with leading up to this,” Vaccaro said. “So everyone was feeling good about themselves, but you knew there was going to be a day when you were going to get a preponderance of favorites. But this wasn’t only favorites, it was the right favorites.”

This is what happens with sports betting. You win some and you lose some and you move on. Personally, I’m having an amazing football season after having an awful season last year. My bankroll is up 150% with 20% more waiting on the Jets to win under 8.5 games.

I’m ready for some NBA hoops now that Mike Brown was fired by the Los Angeles Lakers. That has nothing to do with my readiness for hoops, I just heard the news in the background.