Sports betting is a gamble, and not just for the players but for the sportsbooks as well. For the past months, sportsbooks are on the losing end of a sort, what with the round of refunds happening across states.
It’s like the world has come to an end and predictions are coming out wrong. Then again, no one is really in full control of what happens in field.
Take, for instance, the blown call during the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams. The controversial no-call during offensive pass interference could have changed the outcome of the game. The Saints could have won the conference championship game if not for the blown call.
But, as it is, Rams won and those who bet against them lost. Big time.
This resulted in a round of the so-called righteous refund. This doesn’t often occur in a sports betting environment. But this is something start-up sportsbooks use as a marketing move.
Sportsbooks losses and refunds
The Super bowl between Rams and Saints has resulted in major losses around the country, resulting in sportsbooks refunding and ceding point spread and money line bets that were placed on the New Orleans team.
To say that the impact of the no-call on Saints is huge is an understatement.
Rhode Island managed to lose $900,000, with the Super Bowl as the biggest factor in the sportsbooks’ loss. This is according to the state’s lottery that acts as the Ocean State’s regulatory body for sports betting.
For the month of February, the state’s total handle was about $20.7 million but the book paid out a total of $21.6 million.
Rhode Island isn’t the only state that are refunding public bettors. Las Vegas and other sportsbooks are doing the same thing following the no call. This only shows what a stinky move that was from an NFL official.
Sportsbook refunding money verified that the Saints is the NFC champion. This doesn’t happen often, especially based on the call or no call.
They are also calling out the NFL for considering the Rams as the champions of the conference when the win was based on a poor decision made by one of the officials of the league. There’s no response from the league and the commissioner is staying mum about the blown call.
The league’s head of officials did release an apology but is not pointing a finger to any one specific member of the crew or league officials that were assigned to the game.
NFL hopes the incident will blow over, but fans are calling the league suspicious and go as far as thinking it is fixed if not corrupt. The league will surely have a hard time shaking this off.
In sports history, the no-call on Saints was the worst call by far. It shows that the biggest problem in the NFL is the long-term trust on the team officiating the game.
While those who bet on the New Orleans’ team are celebrating their win, the blown call could happen again and affect Saints fans and bettors. Unless the problem is fixed off-season, it will be a vicious cycle.
The trend of refunding has extended to the NCAA tournament where a sportsbook in New Jersey refunded those who bet Purdue +4.5 against Virginia. The Elite 8 matchup last Saturday brought glory to Virginia bettors and pain to Purdue bettors.
According to betting site Odds Shark, Purdue started out on a high with 5.5 points but dropped to 4.5 points. Virginia’s five-point victory sealed the deal.
On Sunday Morning, the “Karma Kommittee” announced that all money line single bets and +4.5 point spread bets on Purdue will be refunded in full.
Those who had Purdue in parlay will not be so lucky because they’ll not receive credit.
Johnny Aitken, PointsBet CEO, consider the decision a Good Karma payout.
“The Karma Kommittee ultimately viewed that for Purdue not to win or cover the +4.5 spread was a bad beat of incredible magnitude. We simply had to rule on the side of Good Karma.”
Where to bet or not to bet
If you’re looking into making a wager for the next round of baseball, football, or basketball game, it is best to manage your expectations. The tables can turn in the direction that you least expect it. And it doesn’t matter how much you analyze your odds, surprises can still happen along the way.
Of course, it pays to know which sportsbooks to trust with your money. If you take time to visit online resources like https://www.blackjack.org/ to increase your odds of winning on online casinos, you should do the same with sports betting.
