Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl Bet: $1 Million Wager Placed On Falcons Vs. Patriots
The old expression “put your money where your mouth is” if you really believe in something can either make you look brilliant or look like a fool. Well, evidently someone believes that the Atlanta Falcons are the team to wager your hard earned money on today to win Super Bowl 51 — and they are hoping to look very intelligent when the final whistle is blown.
According to a CBS report, the Venetian Race and Sportsbook, which is powered by CG Technology, took in a $1.1 million dollar wager on the Atlanta Falcons plus 3 points against the New England Patriots for Super Bowl 51.
The person putting up the big bucks for this million-dollar wager is only described as an account-based customer at CG Technology. Obviously, he or she is a person with not only a lot of money, but they must also be a big Atlanta Falcons fan to risk such a large amount of cash.
Talk about taking a risk!
With all that money rushing in late on Atlanta, many folks are wondering why the point spread hasn’t changed. It usually takes $500,000 or more to move a spread a half of a point, but don’t look for Las Vegas to change that 3 point line at all. Three is a perfect number for this game because it gives the house all of the advantages.
The odds of the “Atlanta +3” coming into play are actually pretty slim if you look at NFL playoff and Super Bowl history. Underdog teams usually don’t cover the point spread unless they actually win the game. In other words, if New England wins, most sports books already figure it will be by 7 or more.
If the Patriots win by three, then all the hoopla, hype and Super Bowl extravaganza is for not, because a tie means everyone will just get their money back.
Many sports books will take in the bulk of the action today, and the mad rush to wager on Super Bowl 51 will really kick in about 90 minutes before game time.
The MGM sports book, along with the Westgate SuperBook are two of the largest and most popular on the Las Vegas strip, and so far they have been taking large bets for both sides. ESPN indicates that the Grand took a $485,000 bet on the Patriots on Friday, after taking some wagers on the Falcons in the “$200,000 to $300,000” range Thursday. MGM Vice President of Race and Sports Jay Rood told ESPN on Friday that about 60 percent of the money was on the Patriots in his book.
The Westgate seems to be the place to go if you are betting on the Patriots. So far the betting public at the WG are nearly 70 percent on New England, yet they are still holding on firmly to the three point spread.
What many sports books are doing to make the patrons pay more at the window is upping the juice value for this game. Many sports books have increased the juice to New England -3 (-115 or -120). What that means is bettors would need to risk $115 or $120 to win $100 on the Patriots, instead of the usual $110.
No matter what, sports books won’t move that three – unless someone like boxing legend Floyd Mayweather decides to put down one of his famous $5-10 million dollar wagers.
Even the world famous Caesars Palace believes that it would take that much money to move it to 3.5 or a 4 point spread.
“It’s going to take a lot of money to move off of 3,” said Frank Kunovic, sportsbook director at Caesars Palace.
While all this wild wagering action on the Atlanta Falcons or New England Patriots to win Super Bowl 51 is going to carry well into the night, here is something else that may sound even a bit more crazy.
How about millions of dollars wagered on prop bets, such as what the results of the coin flip is?
Kunovic said that roughly $100,000 has been taken so far on the coin flip for Super Bowl 51. Yes, heads or tails is bringing in six figures worth of wagering. For those of you who are interested, heads is leading the wager pool by taking in over 60 percent of the prop bet action so far.
[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
