Suspicious Seattle betting suspends MNF wagering.. [Archive]

Mr. Laz

11-27-2006, 01:21 PM

Suspicious Seattle betting suspends MNF wagering

By Andrew Folkes
Mon, Nov 27, 2006

An overwhelming volume of Seattle Seahawks wagers has poured into sportsbooks since the conclusion of Sunday’s NFL games, forcing some books to temporarily suspend wagering on tonight’s contest with the Green Bay Packers.

The opening line at some books had the Seahawks as low as 9-point home favorites, but the pointspread has now swollen to as high as -12. Books are at a loss to explain the reasoning behind these bettors’ enthusiasm for Seattle.

“We actually have the line down right now,” Shane Catford, an oddsmaker for BetCRIS.com, told Covers.com at about 10 a.m. ET.

“We’ve just been flooded with Seattle money. We got hit at -9, - 9 ½, -10, and -10 ½ and they just kept coming and coming. We figured Brett Favre may be out or something like that so we decided to take the line down until we could get some information.”

Favre’s status was in question earlier this week due to an elbow injury he suffered in last week’s loss to New England. However, the NFL’s ironman returned to practice on Friday and is listed as probable to make his 252nd consecutive start.

“If (third-stringer) Todd Bouman or (fourth-stringer) Ingle Martin had to start, that certainly wouldn’t encourage any Green Bay money,” says SportsMemo.com handicapper Jared Klein. “But word out of the Packers camp is that he’s just fine.”

“We haven’t seen anything that indicates he won’t start,” adds Catford.

One point that may be encouraging Seahawks bettors is that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is returning from a knee injury while running back Shaun Alexander makes a second-straight start after missing six games with a broken bone in his foot.

But considering Hasselbeck still has to wear a knee brace tonight while Alexander had just 37 yards on 17 carries in last week’s loss to San Francisco, it seems unlikely they could inspire this much Seahawks money.

“Who knows how healthy Hasselbeck will be? And he’s been sitting (for four weeks),” says Klein. “And Alexander’s foot doesn’t seem 100 percent either.”

It’s worth noting that betting syndicates sometimes try to influence the odds on a primetime game like this one by betting heavily on the favorite. Once the line reaches a certain point, these same bettors will put even larger wagers on the underdog.

The technique is known as “steaming”, but books don’t think that’s the case here.

”Usually we can tell when they’re doing that because we know the groups that like to do that,” says Catford. “But we’ve got Seattle money coming from groups everywhere all over the world.”

Catford expected that BetCRIS.com would repost its MNF line between noon and 12:30 p.m. ET whether they got any answers or not. Catford anticipated reopening at -10 ½, which would set it within a half-point of most other books that kept wagering open throughout the morning.

“It’s really weird,” says Catford. “Usually when something like this happens it means there’s been a big injury. Bettors are going after Seattle as if Favre and the rest of the Packers all just got in a car accident or something.”

Books have set a 42-point total on this game.