Notable Bets: Derrick Henry, betting public roll in sportsbooks' worst week

Traditionally, erstwhile an NFL backmost has been ruled out, bettors would unreserved to stake connected the hostile to screen the dispersed earlier sportsbooks could propulsion the crippled disconnected the board. These days, though, bookmakers look a much hard task. Derrick Henry is simply a premier example.

Henry ran implicit much than the Houston Texans for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sportsbooks felt the pain, too.

More bets were placed and much wealth wagered connected Henry to people a touchdown Sunday than immoderate different subordinate astatine sportsbook PointsBet. He attracted 3 times arsenic overmuch wealth arsenic immoderate different subordinate to people two-plus touchdowns.

At Caesars Sportsbook, the over/under connected Henry's rushing yards opened astatine 96.5 and grew to 104.5 aft Titans starting backmost Ryan Tannehill was ruled retired and rookie Malik Willis was named the starter. By Sunday morning, 98.9% of the wealth stake connected Henry's rushing yardage was connected the over.

The expanding popularity of subordinate prop bets has added to the situation for bookmakers, who cognize if they're dilatory to respond to an injury, they'll wage the price.

"It hurts, particularly if you instrumentality your oculus disconnected the ball, miss immoderate injury," Craig Mucklow, manager of trading for Caesars Sportsbook, said. "The ticker fills up wrong 30 seconds of 200 bets, and ever max bets erstwhile it's thing similar that."

Bettors' occurrence backing Henry to person a large time was lone portion of what aggregate sportsbooks called their worst Sunday of the season. By the clip the prime-time crippled betwixt the Buffalo Bills and underdog Green Bay Packers kicked off, Caesars Sportsbook was successful a no-win situation.

"We're stuck nary substance what happens," Adam Pullen, adjunct manager of trading for Caesars Sportsbook, said. "We've been fortunate to person had a batch of bully weeks, and successful the expansive strategy of things, it's not horrible. But this one's nary bully for this year."

To Pullen's point, Nevada sportsbooks won a nett $70.7 cardinal successful September, the second-most lucrative period successful the state's history, down lone November 2021 ($70.2 million).

NFL notables

• Caesars Sportsbook and BetMGM each reported losing days connected a Sunday that saw favorites spell 7-5 against the spread. "Worst week of the play truthful far," Jason Scott, vice president of trading for BetMGM, told ESPN successful a substance connection Sunday.

Caesars pointed to the Titans and New England Patriots covering the dispersed -- their wins implicit the Texans and New York Jets, respectively -- arsenic 2 of the astir costly games for the house.

• The largest reported NFL bets astatine Caesars Sportsbook this week were: $325,000 connected Broncos +3 (-130), $220,000 Saints +1.5, $130,000 connected Vikings -3 (-130). All 3 were winners.

• "We had a large time connected Saturday, 1 of our champion of the season," John Murray, enforcement manager of the SuperBook astatine Westgate Las Vegas, said. "However, the lone connection I could usage to picture Sunday is forgettable. The games were boring, and we didn't person the benignant of measurement we've enjoyed the past fewer weeks."

• Murray added the New Orleans Saints' 24-0 triumph implicit the Las Vegas Raiders and the Carolina Panthers covering the dispersed successful a 37-34 overtime nonaccomplishment to the Atlanta Falcons were the champion results of the time for the win.

"Our worst games were the Titans and the Cowboys," Murray said. Dallas covered the dispersed successful a 49-29 triumph implicit the Chicago Bears.

• On Friday, a bettor with PointsBet placed a $200 stake connected the Panthers to triumph the Super Bowl astatine 500-1. The Panthers fell to 2-6 aft Sunday's nonaccomplishment to the Falcons.

World Series: 'Significantly larger' than immoderate different stake Betfred USA has taken

Larger, much well-established U.S. sportsbook operators, similar Caesars and MGM, are utilized to million-dollar bets similar the ones they took from Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale implicit the summertime connected the Houston Astros to triumph the World Series.

Sportsbook Betfred, connected the different hand, is not, astatine slightest not successful the U.S.

Betfred, which has been taking bets successful the United Kingdom for decades, is simply a comparative newcomer to the U.S., wherever it is progressive successful a fistful of states. On July 23, Betfred accepted a $1 cardinal stake connected the Astros astatine 5-1 from McIngvale, who regularly places ample wagers to mitigate the hazard from promotional giveaways from Houston furnishings store, Gallery Furniture.

McIngvale has astir $10 cardinal connected the Astros to triumph the World Series. If Houston defeats the Phillies, he'll springiness customers who spent astatine slightest $3,000 connected furnishings treble their wealth back.

Bryan Bennett, main operating serviceman for Betfred USA, said the $1 cardinal stake is "significantly larger" than immoderate different wager the institution has taken since entering the U.S. market.

"While it's a sweat and evidently mightiness permission a small spot of people connected our U.S. results, we're portion of a overmuch larger entity successful the U.K., which takes seven-figure bets connected the regular," Bennett told ESPN. "It's not arsenic large of a sweat, globally, but, yeah, it's a amusive for us."

Bennett said Betfred USA is trying to person amusive with the wager. The sportsbook's twitter provender has an anti-Astros avatar, and it's offering a "Fade Mattress Mack" promotion with enhanced likelihood connected the Phillies. But making a important dent connected the liability the publication faces connected the Astros isn't realistic astatine this point, Bennett says.

"We cognize there's nary accidental that we adjacent things retired oregon adjacent travel adjacent to leveling things out," Bennett said. "We're each Phillies fans for the adjacent 10 days."

While the seven-figure nonaccomplishment volition sting, Bennett said nary institution vacation parties volition beryllium canceled.

"We'd similar not to suffer that bet, but determination won't beryllium immoderate ramifications," helium said.

College shot notables

• Georgia opened arsenic a 9-point location favourite implicit Tennessee connected Sunday day astatine Circa Sports successful a conflict of No. 1 vs. No. 2. The enactment was down to a statement -8 by Sunday evening. It's the largest enactment connected a crippled betwixt the No. 1-ranked and No. 2-ranked teams since Florida State was a 9-point favourite implicit Auburn successful 2013.

Caesars Sportsbook said it took a $50,000 stake connected Georgia -8.5.

• Other notable opening lines: [via Circa Sports]
Alabama -12, 59.5 astatine LSU
Clemson -4, 47.5 astatine Notre Dame
Florida State -7, 46.5 astatine Miami (Florida)
Texas Tech astatine TCU -9, 70.5
Ohio State -36, 63.5 astatine Northwestern

• Tennessee backmost Hendon Hooker moved past Ohio State backmost C.J. Stroud arsenic the favourite to triumph the Heisman Trophy this play astatine Caesars Sportsbook. Hooker is adjacent money, portion Stroud is +180.

Odds and Ends

• A bettor with DraftKings won $2,730 connected a $1 four-leg parlay featuring the scorers of the archetypal tract extremity successful 4 NBA games Monday. The bettor correctly picked: D'Angelo Russell to people archetypal against the San Antonio Spurs, Pascal Siakam to people archetypal against the Miami Heat, Tobias Harris to people archetypal against the Indiana Pacers and Franz Wagner to people archetypal against the New York Knicks.

• The Jake Paul-Anderson Silva combat attracted 11 times much wealth than the Vasiliy Lomachenko combat connected Saturday astatine Caesars Sportsbook. Paul won a unanimous determination implicit Silva and afterward publically challenged MMA seasoned Nate Diaz to fight. The SuperBook has posted likelihood connected a projected Paul-Diaz bout. If Paul truly does combat Nate Diaz and it's scheduled for a brushed weekend, I deliberation it could bash a batch of business, arsenic agelong arsenic it's promoted well. Paul is listed arsenic a -200 favourite implicit Diaz successful a boxing match. No authoritative announcement has been made astir a Paul-Diaz fight.