When Do the Sports Win and Lose Big?

Are there one or two specific sporting events where the sports books took an absolute beating on the outcome? Or Vice verse where they cleaned up?

[Editor's Note: Blair Rodman, author of our upcoming guide, All about Sports Betting, answers this question.]

Sports books might have their ups and downs, but in the long run, they do just fine. As famous bookmaker Bob Martin used to say, "The 11/10 takes care of everything."

That being said, bookies have a propensity to whine. The fact that recreational bettors love to bet favorites and overs and often parlay or tease them means that when a preponderance of favorites cover and games go over, bookies get hurt some and bemoan the fact that they win less than they’re accustomed to. Awww!

The times books can really get hurt is when they get middled. When books get heavy action on one side of a bet, they usually react by moving the betting line to attract bettors to the other side to help balance the action. But there are dangers when adjusting lines, namely getting middled. An excerpt from my upcoming book, All about Sports Betting, illustrates this:

The most famous middle in sports-betting history occurred in Super Bowl XIII, the 1979 game between the Steelers and Cowboys. The game opened with the Steelers a 3.5-point favorite. Heavy Steelers action moved the line to 4.5, at which point Cowboy money came pouring in. When the game ended with the Steelers winning 35-31, the books had to pay both the bettors who laid the -3.5 and those who took the +4.5. The books took a bath!

The Super Bowl is usually a banner day for sports books and for them to actually lose money was unheard of. If a similar thing happened today, the books would probably overcome it and still make a profit with all the proposition bets and other wagers offered on the Super Bowl that are usually big winners for them. But back then, most money was bet on the pointspread. Did I feel bad for them? Not a chance. While bookies refer to that day as Black Sunday, for bettors it was Green Monday!

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IdahoPat Jan-14-2021

Last eight weeks ...

... the books have really cleaned up, because squares keep betting Kansas City, which hasn't covered the spread in seven straight games. The Chiefs have also destroyed a lot of teaser parlays.

Jan-14-2021

A bath?

Who do the bookies think that taking a bath is going to reduce or eliminate their financial losses?  I can't imagine how an after-the-fact act of personal cleanliness can possibly affect a monetary disaster.

Question of the Day - 14 January 2021

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