Monday, February 7, 2011

Packers, Steelers Defy Odds

Literally, and cause Las Vegas to loose a fortune:
...Thanks to a high-scoring game, a decisive margin of victory by the favored Green Bay Packers and a slew of other breaks, the public made off with riches Sunday at sports books throughout the city.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger threw a late fourth-quarter, fourth-down incomplete pass in his territory, a wave of gamblers pounded tables in celebration and raised their arms in triumph along with Packers Greg Jennings and most-valuable-player quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and marched in a wave to collect their winnings...
 Good going guys!
"What's the worse-case scenario?" McBaeth said. Answered Rood: "It's happening."

A Steelers touchdown before halftime encouraged Rood to set a second-half line with the Steelers favored by 2½ points in the final two quarters. Pittsburgh was only a 2½-point underdog when the game started, so bettors recognized the value of the bet — that they could gamble on Pittsburgh as the equivalent of an 8½-point underdog.

A swarm, including one dressed in a cheesehead cowboy hat and another wearing a Steelers towel/cape over his back, rushed from their leather chairs inside the Mirage to back the Steelers. And those wagers were winners, too.

A Steelers fourth-quarter touchdown and two-point conversion (also paying big odds as an exotic bet) put the game over the 45½-point total that Las Vegas bookmakers had assessed would be the best number to draw bettors considering a game between two of the NFL's top defenses.

"The combination of the 'over' and the Packers' victory was lethal," Rood said. "It's the worst Super Bowl I've seen since being here in 1993. There was no getting around it. Not a great scenario."
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.  Now that's a stimulus.  Too bad I lost 10 bucks on the game...

No comments:

Post a Comment