Posted on 07/14/2021 5:47:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The over/under total on the WNBA All-Star Game moved more than 50 points Wednesday, a historic line movement on a number that a Las Vegas oddsmaker calls the "worst I ever made."
Las Vegas sportsbook Circa Sports, the first to hang an over/under on the total points scored in the game, opened it at 248.5. An hour before the game tipped off, the total was sitting at 195.5.
The 53-point movement was the largest shift that multiple veteran bookmakers could ever recall, and it wasn't caused by any attempt at corruption or by a rush of big wagers. Instead, it was simply a mistake by an oddsmaker who was short on time.
On Wednesday, around 7 a.m. PT, Matt Metcalf, sportsbook director for Circa Sports, saw an opportunity to post the first total on the WNBA All-Star Game on the betting market, he told ESPN. He had a morning meeting at 9 a.m. and still needed to get showered and dressed for work. Rushing, Metcalf said he looked at the total points scored in the previous All-Star Games and landed on 248.5 as the opening number for this year's game.
"At worst, I don't think this was more than 15 points off. That's as bad as I think it could be," Metcalf said. "I didn't think it would be the worst number ever."
Metcalf said he didn't take into account that WNBA All-Stars were facing the U.S. women's national team, which is tuning up for the Olympics and expected to take the game more seriously than traditional high-scoring All-Star Games that are often played with reduced intensity and lackadaisical defense.
"This is very different than a [typical] All-Star Game," Las Vegas Aces coach Bill Laimbeer told Sports Illustrated. "Normally everybody is kind of goofing around. That's not what USA Basketball
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
Maybe a mistake of this magnitude will occur aboard a nuclear submarine.
And yet it’s the WNBA, so no one cares.
Most high school men’s teams would beat either of these broad squads, and anyone who would wager on the contest is truly a degenerate gambler. The WNBA is a joke.
Sometimes somebody will profess to be a fan of women’s basketball but if you ask them to name a single player, they come up blank.
Are they 99% black too without diversity?
Aren’t they 99% Lesbian?
Let’s hope not!
WNBA?
And we care?
Trans?
Lisa Leslie or Sheryl Swoopes? Do they still play? I couldn’t tell you what position they play. Cheryl Miller?
I doubt it’s anywhere near that high.
If you’re betting on a women’s all-star hoops game, you’ve got a real problem.
LOL, ain't that the truth?
why do we care?
Who would bet on the WNBA anything?
This could certainly shift the wagers of dozens of dollars.
I prefer Purgatory to watching the WNBA
What happens when 7 foot musclebound men start identifying as women?
Once, many years ago, at Belmont Racetrack here in New York, at least one betting window remained opened...AFTER the race went off! By the time I got my bet in (with my best poker face on) the horses were at the top of the stretch! So I bet what money I had left on the horse that was leading by 5 or 6 lengths at the time. My friggin usual bad luck, the horse was passed by some other in the final few yards! True story.
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