Over the past week the country has been polarized by the bizarre saga so eloquently coined “deflate-gate” after last Sunday’s AFC Championship Game at Foxborough.
Maybe no one has monitored it more closely than the oddsmakers in Las Vegas as they ramp up to one of their busiest betting weekends.
So what does the impact of deflate-gate have in Vegas to this point?
“Nothing,” 38-year Las Vegas bookmaker Jimmy Vaccaro told Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat during his weekly interview Friday morning. “It’s good for headlines. It’s good to talk about. Obviously it creates interest but as far as the betting handle and what it does is nothing. It’s actually a reversal here…there’s a little bit of top-heavy money coming in on the Patriots.”
The spread has shifted a bit after Seattle opened as a one-point favorite in their showdown with New England at University of Phoenix Stadium.
“We’re Patriots one-point favorite with the total [points] at forty-eight and-a-half,” the South Point Casino Resort Race and Sports Book Manager said. “That’s about the painted number you’ll see here in Nevada.”
Vaccaro said the books have had “steady action” during this week and expects the pace to pick up drastically 48-72 hours before kickoff which is scheduled for shortly after 4:30 Arizona time. He expressed “90% of the money” will start coming in Friday night.
Eric Sorenson
