If there’s one moral to this story, it’s never live bet on the Falcons.
After trying to shake the stigma of their infamous collapse in the Super Bowl against the Patriots, the Falcons are once again the king of chokes after blowing a 20-point lead and a 99.9% win probability in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys on Sunday.
According to BetMGM, with seven minutes left in Sunday’s matchup, and the in-game line at -3333 with an Atlanta win surely in hand, someone bet $35,000 to win $1,050 on the Falcons’ moneyline.
We all know that how turned out.
Via Yahoo Sports –
The Cowboys scored, scored again, recovered an onside kick as the Falcons watched it spin, then kicked a field goal to win. Dallas got 16 points in the final five minutes to win 40-39.
That’s a great outcome for the Cowboys, and even those who had the Cowboys on the moneyline or on a teaser. It was disastrous for one bettor who was just trying to pick up what looked like a free $1,050 on what looked like a lock.
There are no locks.
It’s impossible to imagine the sinking feeling when the Falcons were blowing that game, having $35,000 to win $1,050 on them. In live betting, algorithms are constantly updating the odds play by play. Given how improbable the Falcons loss was, a -3333 moneyline was probably not too far off a fair line.
It wasn’t just a bad loss, it was historic. According to Elias, via ESPN Stats and Info, NFL teams that scored 39 points with no turnovers were 440-0 since 1933, when turnovers were first tracked as a stat.
It was an unbelievable game. The Cowboys looked like sure losers the whole afternoon, until a crazy onside kick gave them hope at the end. They still needed to drive into field-goal range and hit the field goal at the final gun. Like the 28-3 Super Bowl collapse for the Falcons, a lot of things needed to go wrong for Atlanta to lose, and they all did.
That loss will linger for a long time, especially with one bettor who figured they had a sure thing.
