Sharp bettors backing Packers, Broncos and Browns in preseason Week 1

The Cleveland Browns will be the NFL’s first team to play its second preseason game on Friday night. The Browns beat the New York Jets, 21-16, in the Hall of Fame Game as two-point underdogs and there’s already been a big move towards Cleveland in its home game on Friday night with the Washington Commanders.

The game opened with the Commanders as a small favorite at some books, but has bet up to a solid Browns -3 across the market. Several sportsbooks reported respected action on Cleveland earlier in the week.

“The notable action for tonight has been the Browns,” Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in New Jersey, told me in a text message. “We opened them -1, but we’re now at -3. One group hit their moneyline with us at -120 and again at -140. They stayed off them at -150.”

At DraftKings Sportsbook, the public is backing the Browns as well, with 65% of bets and 70% of money on the Cleveland spread. Interestingly enough, the situation is flipped at BetMGM, where a whopping 88% of bets and 93% of the money wagered in on the Commanders to cover.

Respected money has also come in on several other games on Friday night.

“We saw sharp money on the Packers from Green Bay -2 to -4.5 and the Broncos from Denver -2.5 to -6.5,” Zachary Lucas, director of retail trading at Twin Spires, said.

The story is similar in Las Vegas, as Chuck Esposito, sportsbook director at Station Casinos, told me in a text that he’d seen huge moves towards the Packers, Falcons, Browns and Broncos.”

The biggest public bet at DraftKings has been on the Steelers (-3 at Bucs) to cover, with 72% of bets and 85% of the handle on Pittsburgh.

“Tremendous handle on this weekend’s preseason games,” Esposito noted. “In many cases preseason handle is greater than some baseball games.”

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