Sharp bettors take side, total in Eagles-Raiders game

In the wake of coach Jon Gruden’s abrupt resignation last week, recreational and pro sports bettors alike abandoned the Raiders and lost big when they whipped the Broncos in Denver.

The betting public is backing the Raiders as consensus 3-point favorites over the Eagles in Sunday’s game at Allegiant Stadium. But sharp bettors are backing Philadelphia.

“Sharps took Philly +3. I’m down to 2½,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said in a text Saturday. “Public is laying it, though. So we get back to 3 at some point.”

The line opened at 3 at Station Casinos and quickly went to 3½, where Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said the book took sharp action on the Eagles (2-4, 3-3 ATS) before moving the line back to 3.

Circa Sports is at Raiders -2½ (-120).

“We had one guy we do respect who took the Eagles +3 (-110) early in the week, which is why we’re now at +3 (even),” Westgate SuperBook director John Murray said. “The Eagles have played a really hard schedule. They’re better than their record indicates. They’ve already played at Dallas and the Buccaneers and Chiefs, and they’re had three extra days to prepare for this game.

“It was a great performance by the Raiders last week. But it’s starting to look more and more like Denver is not that good.”

Murray said the SuperBook took a little sharp action on the game to go under the total, which has dipped to 48½ after opening at 49½.

“Sometimes a sharp syndicate can move the total several points,” he said.

The Raiders (4-2, 3-3 ATS) have a 3-3 over-under record this season after leading the NFL with a 12-3-1 over-under mark last season.

At BetMGM, there are more tickets written on the Raiders than on any other NFL team this week.

“As happens every time we have a home game,” MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback said.

The Eagles have the third-most tickets of any team at MGM.

A week after more tickets were written on the Raiders’ opponent at Station Casinos for the first time this season, 77 percent of the tickets are on the Raiders. The SuperBook also reported 77 percent of the tickets on them.

“It’s back to the trend of heavily favoring the Raiders that we had seen before the Gruden announcement,” Esposito said. “We’re going to be Eagles and under fans in this game, no question.”

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