Las Vegas oddsmakers expect Super Bowl line to stay put
The line on the Super Bowl hasn’t moved much since the Chiefs were installed as 1-point favorites over the 49ers. And Las Vegas oddsmakers don’t expect the line to move much more before Sunday’s kickoff.
Eight Las Vegas sportsbooks listed Kansas City as a 1-point favorite Thursday, and four had the Chiefs as 1½-point favorites. Several bookmakers expect the line to close at one of those numbers.
“I don’t think the line goes anywhere,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said. “The total may move around, but the line will be either 1 or 1½.”
Said South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews: “I think we’re going to be right in that range of 1 or 1½.”
The Mirage sportsbook director Jeff Stoneback said he would be surprised if the line closed at a different number.
“I’ve seen where the line got flipped on Super Bowl Sunday, but I wouldn’t expect it to be anything different than 1 or 1½,” he said.
MGM Resorts was one of the books sitting at 1½. It took seven figures of money-line action on San Francisco on Wednesday and Thursday.
Houston furniture store owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale placed a $1 million money-line bet to win $1.2 million on the Niners at The Mirage on Wednesday at +120.
MGM also took a $100,000 money-line bet at +110 on Wednesday night and a $100,000 money-line bet at +105 on Thursday morning.
MGM previously took three six-figure bets totaling $900,000 on the Chiefs, including a $550,000 wager to win $500,000 at -1 at the Bellagio.
“Before all this money came in on the 49ers, we were sitting at 1, then the half million bet (on the Chiefs) moved us to 1½,” Stoneback said. “Right now, being the Super Bowl and a lot of money still to come in, we don’t want to move it back to 1.
“I was kind of surprised that we got so much Kansas City money so early. That’s why I’m hesitant to go back to 1. Right now, we’re getting great two-way action. We’ll make them force us to go back to 1 if that’s the situation.”
CG Technology needs the 49ers. William Hill needs the Chiefs in Nevada and the Niners at their out-of-state books. MGM and the Westgate, which took a $91,666 bet Wednesday on the 49ers +1, need the Chiefs.
“A lot of money showed up on San Francisco this week,” Westgate sportsbook director John Murray said. “But our bigger decisions will still be on the total and the props.
“We have a ton of money on the over, and the game going under would be great for props.”
The over was at 54½ on Thursday at all books except for the Golden Nugget and Treasure Island, which were at 55.
“We definitely need the under,” Bogdanovich said. “That will be a big decision.”
South Point lowered the total to 54½ on Thursday morning after taking a $44,000 bet on under 55.
“We took a pretty big whack under the 55, so back to 54½,” Andrews said. “We still need the under.”
Shortly after South Point posted a dime line on the money line Thursday, a bettor placed a $50,000 bet on San Francisco at +107. The South Point then moved the money line to -114 on the Chiefs and +104 on the Niners.
An MGM bettor placed a $55,000 bet on under 54½ on Wednesday night, which dropped the ratio of money wagered there on the over from 5½-1 to 2-1.
TI sportsbook director Tony Nevill bumped the total to 55 on Thursday morning.
“Right now, all the action is going to both teams, but they’re hooking it up to the over,” Nevill said. “I’m hoping there’s a number the sharps will bet me on the under, but they haven’t showed up yet.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.