\n<\/p>\n
Sportsbooks are expecting a tough NFL playoff weekend of four divisional games.<\/p>\n
Underdogs are popular bets in the divisional round.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Rams-Bears can be a huge deciding factor for sports books.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
A few large bills remain in the futures market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
While it doesn’t come close to the kind of handle the Super Bowl produces, DraftKings Sportsbook director Johnny Avello expects a bigger weekend with two games on Saturday and two more on Sunday than last week’s wild card round.<\/p>\n
\n\n“Not that last week was a bad week because it wasn’t, but we are down to eight teams in this divisional round, and bettors can focus on two games each day,” said Avello. Covers<\/em> on Friday. “I think each game will have a better handle than the week before.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It’s an impressive slate, too, as only one of the four games has a touchdown favorite. Another is 3.5 points or less.<\/p>\n
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Line moves have already flipped the Bills-Broncos favorite this week, and all four underclassmen have made plenty of moves early.<\/p>\n
“If you look at what the matchups are, the 49ers-Seahawks meet for the third time this year,” Avello said. “Bills-Broncos, you got the No. 1 seed against a Bills team loaded with offensive talent. You have a 10-time Texans team going to New England, who had a great year. Then the Rams and Bears, you couldn’t ask for a better LA connection than a Chicago connection.<\/p>\n
“I think the stories behind all of them are great, and I think the games themselves will be heavily bet on.”<\/p>\n
\n\n\n
\n \n\n Divisional Games (Sat.-Sun.)<\/p>\n<\/th>\n
\n DraftKings Split<\/p>\n<\/th>\n
\n BetMGM Splits<\/p>\n<\/th>\n
\n Score Bet Splits<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
\n \n Bills-Broncos (-1.5)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n BUF 61% bet
BUF 64% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n BUF 51% bet
BUF 58% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n BUF 61% bet
BUF 53% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n \n 49ers-Seahawks (-7)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n SF 73% bet
SF 67% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n SF 69% bet
SF 66% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n SF 68% bet
SEA 52% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n \n Texans-Patriots (-3)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n NE 55% bet
NE 75% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n NE 58% bet
NE 69% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n HOU 58% bet
HOU 67% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n \n Rams-Bears (+3.5)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n CHI 60% bet
CHI 66% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n CHI 60% bet
CHI 57% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n CHI 63% bet
CHI 65% handle<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\nBills-Broncos<\/h2>\n
The first game of the weekend isn’t a multi-division betting contest, but Avello believes Saturday afternoon’s game has a chance to be. And where the final spread ends is still in question.<\/p>\n
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Buffalo opened as a 1.5-point favorite, but like last week when the same line flipped in Jacksonville, Denver, the AFC’s top seed, is now a 1.5 at home.<\/p>\n
“Now that that’s changed, the general public likes the Bills on the money line,” Avello said. “They don’t have to put up the juice, so they take less. Debts always attract money.”<\/p>\n
DraftKings reported that 67% of punters are backing Josh Allen and the Bills, who climbed the Super Bowl oddsboard after last week’s road win.<\/p>\n
The spread bettors also favor Buffalo despite the lineup change, as the Bills get the second most tickets of any team playing this weekend. TheScore Bet also takes over 64% of the moneyline handle and 53% of the spread on Buffalo.<\/p>\n
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Avello also said that Allen, Bills running back James Cook, and Denver running back RJ Harvey have already made significant moves in both the early and early scoring markets. <\/p>\n
49ers-Seahawks<\/h2>\n
Familiarity can breed action, which was evident in Saturday night’s game between two NFC West rivals who only played each other two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\n\n“I think it helps to bet in this situation. The bettors are familiar with the teams,” said Avello.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
And so far, they’re backing the 49ers on the money line and as 7 underdogs. DraftKings said 67% of the handle and 73% of San Francisco tickets. The other two operators reported similar ticket percentages, but Score Bet saw more money for the Seahawks.<\/p>\n
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Avello said Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold’s listing as questionable on the injury report with an unspecified problem lowered the line by one point, but Darnold said he would play.<\/p>\n
“There will be more money for the Seahawks as we get closer to game time,” Avello said. <\/p>\n
Under has been a popular pick, going from 45.5 down to 44.5 on DraftKings. BetMGM saw 69% of the handle in the under 45s, while Score Bet reported that 93% of the money backs the lower score. The two teams have combined for 16 points in the last two weeks.<\/p>\n
San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey is one of the top punters of all time at all three sportsbooks.<\/p>\n
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Texans-Patriots<\/h2>\n
The Texans come into this game hot, but mostly their defense is the best. The Patriots have the better offense, but the total is down to 40.5, the lowest number for a playoff game.<\/p>\n
“Bettors really like this game to be played under them,” said Avello.<\/p>\n
DraftKings saw a 72% underdog, the highest percentage of any game this weekend. This is also the most betting total at BetMGM, with 75% of tickets supporting the underdog.<\/p>\n
As for the spread, the Patriots (-3) saw a lot of action at two sportsbooks. BetMGM has New England as its top betting team to hold so far this week. Two-thirds of the handle at DraftKings is in the home favorite, but Avello says the money line hasn’t attracted much action either way.<\/p>\n
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“I don’t know where the money will end up,” said Avello.<\/p>\n
Houston running back Woody Marks has been cited by many sports publications as the all-time leading scorer.<\/p>\n
Rams-Bears<\/h2>\n
This could be one of the most interesting sportsbook games of the weekend. Being the last race could create an attractive bill, depending on how the first three go.<\/p>\n
But for now, bettors are not afraid to back the underdog. The Bears (+3.5) won by a score last week against the Packers, while the Rams struggled to put the Panthers as double-digit favorites. This week, the Bears “got a phone call,” Avello said.<\/p>\n
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Chicago receives 75% of the money line handle from DraftKings and 66% of the distribution fee. Both BetMGM and theScore Bet reported similar numbers for the spread, as the Bears, who were a popular choice each week, were more trusted by bettors.<\/p>\n
Avello said there was “good” bipartisan action throughout this number, although the number dropped to 48.5. Although the over gets about 70% of the tickets on TheScore Bet, most of the money is gone. BetMGM saw the underdog earn a bit in both categories.<\/p>\n
\n\n“I think this will be a bet because these two teams can shine,” said Avello.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Big debts<\/h2>\n
It is still time for betting and managing percentages to change and reorganize, but operators already have a good idea of \u200b\u200bwhat results they are removing from the perspective of the future market.<\/p>\n
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The house really needs the Rams to take care of business and kill betting on Super Bowl winners causing huge bills.<\/p>\n
“I would call them the Bad News Bears if they win everything because they were betting on the future,” Avello said of Chicago. “Them and the Patriots both took a lot of money to win the Super Bowl all year. The Bears are usually the bet because they’re a popular team, but even more so this year.”<\/p>\n
BetMGM reported this week that the Bears and 49ers are its two biggest bets left in the postseason. The online sportsbook is sweating a $50,000 bet on Chicago to win the Super Bowl with +6,600 odds, a payout of over $3 million. There is also a $30,000 futures bet in New England to win it all that pays $660,000.<\/p>\n
This article appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sportsbooks are expecting a tough NFL playoff weekend of four divisional games. Key Takeaways Underdogs are popular bets in the divisional round. Rams-Bears can be a huge deciding factor for sports books. A few large bills remain in the futures market. While it doesn’t come close to the kind of handle the Super Bowl produces, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2707,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2705\/revisions\/2707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}