Tribe maintains AL Central lead despite taking back-to-back Ls
September 7, 2016Cavs, J.R. Smith not near deal—still
September 7, 2016The Cleveland Browns should be among the worst teams in the NFL this season. Fielding a young, inexperienced roster, some may even question whether or not the team is “tanking.” But has sentiment surrounding the team’s forecasted woes gone too far? It would appear so given this recent story written over at ESPN.com’s sports betting arm Chalk. According to David Purnam, the Browns are among the most popular teams in Vegas, drawing a surprising number of bets that would lend one to believe things may not be as bad as once assumed.
Case in point: A thousand Super Bowl wagers.
Nearly 1,000 people have bet on the Cleveland Browns to win the Super Bowl this offseason at MGM sportsbooks in Las Vegas. …
Caesars Palace has accepted close to 750 bets on the Browns, and the ticket count on Cleveland at sportsbook operator CG Technology is approaching 500 and includes a $1,000 bet at 175-1 and a $500 bet at 200-1.
As presumed, the vast majority of those throwing money on the Browns are doing so in novelty amounts like $5 and $10, but when you factor in the clinically insane levels of optimism held by some Browns fans with those simply trying to wide the wave of hitting a jackpot, those bets add up rather quickly. One season ticket holder quoted in the story admitted to his bet being made in jest, just so he would have something to staple to the wall in his basement bar. While it would cost sportsbooks a ton of money if the Browns were to win, there is currently little reason for any of these shops to be nervous.
But wait… There’s more. The Browns’ over/under for their total wins on the season is also drawing a ton of surprising interest.
Cleveland’s season-win total, at 4.5, is the lowest of any team in the NFL. CG Technology initially took enough money on the under to cut the total down to 4.
“We then took an over bet, the biggest bet we’ve taken [on Cleveland’s win total], $3,200 on over 4,” CG Technology vice president of race and sports Jason Simbal said. “That was from a pretty smart guy.”
Simbal said his book had taken 144 over bets on the Browns’ win total and 99 on the under.
As many sports betting aficionados will point out, the “under” bets are currently at plus-odds, meaning over four wins is the current favorite. Meanwhile, ESPN’s batch of NFL Nation reporters have picked the Browns to go 1-15, not winning until Christmas rolls around with the San Diego Chargers as the city’s lone gift.
For those holding out hope for Week 1 in Philadelphia, ESPN Analytics gives the Eagles a 69.4 percent chance to top the Browns, while five predominant sports books have Cleveland as four-point underdogs, paving the way for an entire season of point-getting mania.
2 Comments
Okay fine… that $1,000 bet was me.
(No it really wasn’t… remember, I’m the “optimistic” one guessing that the Browns rack up 6 wins).
these “nearly 1,000 people” must have money to burn … even mr. optimistic wouldn’t make that bet.