Lopsided action on Raiders-Ravens at Las Vegas sportsbooks
Bettors are all over the Raiders in their season opener against the Ravens on “Monday Night Football” at Allegiant Stadium.
Baltimore dipped to a consensus 3½-point favorite over the Raiders on Monday at Las Vegas sportsbooks after the number dropped from 4½ to 4 last week.
“We definitely need the Ravens. We’ve got a pretty large decision on them,” MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback said. “The ticket count is almost 2-1 on the Raiders. The money is around 5-1 on the Raiders.”
The consensus line dropped to 4 on Thursday. Station Casinos and the South Point went to 3½ after Baltimore lost starting running back Gus Edwards and star cornerback Marcus Peters to season-ending torn ACLs.
“We need the Ravens pretty good,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said. “We were the first to go to 3½ and were hoping to get some Ravens money. Now everybody is 3½, and they’re still coming in pretty hard on the Raiders.”
Andrews said sharp money took the Raiders at +4.
Baltimore also lost running back J.K. Dobbins to a torn ACL on Aug. 28, and running back Justice Hill tore an Achilles tendon Sept. 2.
“We need the Ravens,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said via text message Monday. “The injury news has the public staying away from the Ravens.”
Circa sportsbook manager Chris Bennett said there has been slow, but steady support for the Raiders ATS and on the money line. He expects the book to need the Ravens as well.
The Raiders are +165 on the money line. The total is 50½. The total is 51 at Station.
“We’re clearly Ravens fans tonight,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “The Ravens and under would be our best case. They’re taking the Raiders on the points and money line. It’s similar to what we saw with the Knights. There’s a huge local bias and backing on the Raiders.”
Stoneback said he hasn’t seen a single Ravens jersey at Mandalay Bay, where his office is located.
“It will be all Raiders money, and it will be magnified when people travel through our casinos near the stadium, just like it is for Golden Knights games,” he said. “There will be a lot of Raiders fans in our books at Mandalay Bay and Luxor and New York New York.”
Treasure Island was the last book at 4 as the Ravens are -4 (-105) and the Silver and Black is +4 (-115).
“Our biggest liability is on our parlay card, where we had a lot of people lay 4½ with the Ravens,” Treasure Island sportsbook director Tony Nevill said. “So with the number going down, I’m actually hoping wiseguys are on the right side of it.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.