Patriots’ loss now becomes longshot

The New England Patriots were once considered a longshot to finish the regular season undefeated. Not anymore.

Months after a bettor looked at a major payoff if the Patriots finished 16-0, today a person would have to bet $700 just to be able to win $100, according to Bodoglife.com.

But a $100 wager on New England losing a regular-season game would pay $400.

This week, the Patriots (13-0) opened as 27-point home favorites over the New York Jets, but the line dropped to as low as 21 on some boards by Saturday.

“We aren’t seeing as much action as we would have expected considering this is the first meeting between the Jets and Patriots since the Spygate scandal was exposed,” said Richard Gardner, Bodog Sportsbook manager. “I’m sure a lot of bettors are leery of the [initial] point spread, as it’s the highest ever for a game not involving an expansion team.”

Last week, New England was a 10 1/2 -point favorite over Pittsburgh and covered the spread with a 34-13 victory. But many bettors believed in the Steelers before the game.

“It was a nice break for the bookmakers,” Gardner said. “ . . . the public put their support behind the Steelers. That was the first time this season we were cheering for the Patriots.”

Note: According to Bodoglife.com, the line on the Patriots to win the Super Bowl and finish 19-0: Yes (-170) No (+130).

Here are a few proposition bets available: Will New England Coach Bill Belichick shake Jets Coach Eric Mangini’s hand after the game? Yes (-115) or No (-115).

Margin of victory for the Patriots: win by 1-6 points (9-1), win by 7-12 points (7-1), win by 13-18 points (9-2), win by 19-24 points (3-1), win by 25-30 points (7-2), win by 31-36 points (5-1), win by 37-42 points (8-1), win by 43 or more points (7-1).

Will New England’sTom Brady throw five or more touchdowns to break the NFL single season record? Yes (+250) or No (-400).

Baseball

After the release of the Mitchell Report, oddsmakers were quick to post numbers on players connected with performance-enhancing drugs. Here are a couple of lines available at Bodoglife.com:

Will Roger Clemens pitch in a major league baseball game in 2008? Yes (+300) or No (-500); Will Clemens publicly admit to using steroids before the end of 2008? Yes (+250) or No (-400); Will Alex Rodriguez fail a drug test before the end of the 2008 season? Yes (+200) or No (-300); Will Mark McGwire publicly admit to using steroids before the end of 2008? Yes (+150) or No (-200).

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lonnie.white@latimes.com