Sharp bettors play both sides of Raiders-Chargers line on ‘MNF’

At different numbers, respected sports bettors are on both sides of the Raiders-Chargers matchup on “Monday Night Football.”

Los Angeles opened as a 3-point home favorite Sunday and was bet up to -3½ on Monday after Right Angle Sports, a highly regarded handicapping service, released a play on the Chargers -3.

“They’re the ones that moved that up,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said.

The line went as high as -4 at Circa Sports.

“We wanted to see where the resistance was going to be, and we found it at 4,” Circa sportsbook manager Chris Bennett said. “We got a bet on the Raiders at 4.”

South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said sharp bettors took the Raiders at +3½ before he moved the line to +3, along with Circa, the SuperBook and Station Casinos.

The Raiders are still +3½ (-120) at BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook.

“I guess the Chargers are a little better than the Raiders,” Bennett said. “At least that’s the perception.”

At Station Casinos, 56 percent of the tickets are on the Raiders, who are +150 on the money line.

“Right now, we’re definitely Chargers fans,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “But the bulk of the money will come in over the course of the weekend and on Monday night.

“Raiders games for us now are magnified like the Knights. If it’s a Vegas team that’s good and relevant, guests aren’t just backing them with their hearts, but they’re backing them with their dollars as well.”

The Raiders (3-0, 2-1 ATS) are the first team in NFL history to win their first three games against teams that won 10 or more games the previous season, but they had to outlast the Ravens and Dolphins in overtime.

“The game against Baltimore could’ve gone either way. Against the Dolphins, they rallied back and then gave up the lead,” Salmons said. “The Raiders are 3-0, which is the best case. But are they a 3-0 team? Probably not.”

Los Angeles (2-1, 2-1 ATS) is coming off a 30-24 win at Kansas City after splitting two close games with Washington and Dallas.

“The Chargers are 2-1 but could easily be 1-2. These games are so close,” Salmons said. “On the surface, the Chargers seem like a better team than the Raiders. The scary thing for the Chargers is they’re a better team on the road because they have zero home-field advantage.

“It’ll be interesting to see the crowd support, if there’s more Raiders fans than not. My educated guess is L.A. is all Raiders fans.”

The Raiders are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 road games against the Chargers.

The total is 51½ at every Las Vegas book except Station, where the total is 52 and more than 80 percent of the tickets are on the over.

“With those two offenses, we’re clearly going to be under fans,” Esposito said.

The Raiders have gone over in 14 of their last 19 games (14-4-1), and the over is 8-2 in NFL prime-time games this season.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.