WHEN 49ERS DEFENDER Donte Whitner tackled Cowboys wide receiver Jesse Holley on the one yard line in overtime on Sunday, gamblers betting on Dallas to win lost somewhere in the region of $72million dollars.
If Holley had managed to bundle over for a touchdown, the Cowboys would have managed to cover the game’s 3-point spread and secure a lucrative payout for thousands of punters.
Instead, the Cowboys opted for a safer route to victory and kicked a field goal to win 27-24, tieing the game from a gambling perspective.
RJ Bell, the founder of American gambling website Pregame.com, explained the situation on his site’s post-game discussion forum:
“An estimated $100 million was bet worldwide on the Cowboys/49ers game, with an estimated 86% of that action on Dallas. In OT, a Cowboys receiver was caught from behind and tackled on the one-yard line – leading to a game winning field goal.
“If a TD had been scored, the Cowboys as a 3-point favorite would have cashed for bettors.”
“Instead, all monies were returned on a tie (called a “push). So, an ultimately meaningless shoe-string tackle resulted in bettors winning $0 instead of an estimated $72 million!”
– Additonal reporting from Business Insider
