Sportsbooks Get Hammered with Packers Action

4:15 pm EST – Everyone and their grandmother got in on the action as the line this week was Green Bay -5 at St. Louis. Sportsbooks were either going to take a bath or make out like bandits. Well they are getting their towels ready because the game is final and the Packers beat the Rams by 10. Checking around all week on the massive action imbalance, Sportsbook Advisor had to join in the fun too. We issued a free pick on our Football Pick Blog saying take the Packers. We even listed the game at -6 which was the highest on the board and was offered by Bovada.

Combining the numbers we received from three online sportsbooks, the statistics are as follows: Total wagers placed on game side: 127,434. Percentage of public wagering on Green Bay: 80.2%. Dollar amount: undisclosed.  But you can bet it was in the tens of millions. And if you are the sportsbook manager trying to balance the action by wagering it elsewhere (laying it off), you will have a hard time finding anyone willing  to take the action because they are getting hammered with the same bet.

This game was by far the most heavily wagered and lopsidedly bet game on the board this weekend. Sportsbooks hope to have a chance to make some of it back on tonight’s game Pittsburgh (-1) at Cincinnati. That game currently has around roughly 100,000 wagers on it and 70% of the public is on Pittsburgh.  My advice is to go ahead and take Cincinnati and be on the side of the book. If Pittsburgh does win you can expect there will be some very distraught bookmakers.