Las Vegas sports books all smiles after big day of upsets in NFL

The unusual final-play touchdown in theNew York Giants' 32-18 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pushed the score over the betting total and cashed a four-team parlay that paid $80,000 at Las Vegas sports book operator CG Technology.

Yet the book still enjoyed its most lucrative Sunday of the NFL season.

That was the story across town: Las Vegas sports books cleaned up on a Sunday that saw heavily backed favorites such as the Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falconslose straight up.

Jay Kornegay, head of the Westgate SuperBook, told ESPN Chalk it was "no doubt" his shop's best Sunday so far this season, and the MGM, Wynn, Caesars, Station Casinos and Stratosphere also reported winning days.

Underdogs went 6-5 against the spread Sunday, with four 'dogs pulling outright upsets. TheTennessee Titans' 34-28 overtime win over the favored New Orleans Saints was one of the books' biggest decisions of the early slate.

TheIndianapolis Colts' 27-24 win over the Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers' 17-16 win over the Falcons produced big wins in the afternoon.

Early in the day at William Hill, the Broncos, Packers and Falcons had attracted more than 80 percent of the money wagered on their matchups. Those games represented the three most lopsided games of the day.

The three popular favorites not only failed to cover the spread but also lost outright, which eliminated a lot of teaser and parlay bets, the books said.

The winning parlay at CG Technology included the New York Jets and New England Patriots money lines and the overs in Titans-Saints and Giants-Buccaneers.

On the final play of the Giants-Bucs game, New York cornerback Trevin Wade scooped up a fumble after multiple Tampa Bay laterals and returned it for a touchdown, which pushed the score over the total of 49.5.

The MGM was looking at a "high six-figure" win on the day, if the Dallas Cowboys could have covered as three-point underdogs against the Philadelphia Eagles in the night game. The Eagles won 33-27 in overtime.

"We had a big casino customer play the Eagles," JayRood at the MGM said two hours before the primetime kickoff. "We're almost 10-1 in money, long on the Eagles."

Wynn executive director John Avello said a Cowboys cover would have been huge for his shop, but overall Sunday was a needed good day for the house after an up-and-down start to the season.

"We haven't had a really good NFL year so far," Avello said. "It's been difficult."