Cardinals one game away from a 50-1 payoff
1:14 PM Mon, Jan 26, 2009 | Permalink
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The Arizona Cardinals already quadrupled some bettors' money by winning their first National Football League playoff games as underdogs. Now that they're on the verge of a 50-1 Super Bowl payoff, recession-hit gamblers may be poised to collect. Sports bettors, reacting to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, wagered more heavily this year on Super Bowl success for big underdogs such as the Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Steelers' foe in the NFL's championship game, said Richard Gardner, who manages the sports book for gambling Web site Bodog. He said bettors also cut the size of their wagers by 10-15 percent. "That's just trying to hit the home run to try to help through this economic downturn, kind of buying a lottery ticket on sports,'' Gardner said in a telephone interview. "People are just taking the extra-long shot.'' The strategy might pay off Feb. 1, when the teams meet in Tampa, Florida. Arizona (12-7) is a 7-point underdog to the Steelers (14-4), according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises Nevada sports books on gambling lines. It's a familiar role for the National Football Conference champions, who were underdogs in each of their playoff wins over the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles. A $100 bet on the Cardinals against the point spread in each of those games would have yielded a total profit of $300. The original $100 investment would now be $400. Steelers Odds The Steelers had 4-1 odds to win the title on Bodog as the postseason began, second behind the New York Giants at 7-2. Arizona's 50-1 odds, the second-longest behind 60-1 for the Miami Dolphins, mean that a gambler would win $5,000 with a successful $100 bet on the Cardinals. Arizona isn't the only long shot to make a championship round: The Tampa Bay Rays, who lost the World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies, started the 2008 baseball season as a 75-1 bet. The current inclination to favor long shots is the same one that keeps lottery gambling going strong in rough economic times, according to Jeffrey Beck, a certified compulsive gambling counselor. "In a tight economy, 'a dollar and a dream' seems to run pretty true for people,'' Beck, a managerial assistant at the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, said in a telephone interview, adding that lottery revenue is up a bit in the state. "Even in tough times, it's a minimal investment with a maximum return.'' Steelers Hedge Jay Rood, the race and sports book director at MGM Mirage, said he also saw an increase in riskier bets during this NFL season as gamblers played more parlays, tying an original wager and its winnings to another bet or bets in hopes of a big payoff if all of the wagers are successful. "Instead of betting exclusively straight bets, there have been some guys mixing in parlays to get a little bigger bang for their dollar,'' Rood said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. Gardner, whose sports book, like those in Nevada, doesn't disclose the amounts of individual bets, said he expects to see many gamblers hedging Cardinals bets with new wagers on the Steelers, putting themselves in a win-win position. He also said the handle, or amount wagered, will be in line with past Super Bowls. People in the U.S. are banned by law from betting on Gardner's Antigua-based Web site. Nevada's sports books took in $92.1 million in Super Bowl wagers last season, when the Giants beat the New England Patriots 17-14 as 12-point underdogs. It was the fourth straight year that the amount wagered on the game exceeded $90 million in the only U.S. state where sports betting is legal. The Steelers' 2006 championship win over the Seattle Seahawks drew a record $94.5 million, an indication of the five- time champion's popularity. "If the Cowboys hadn't coined the phrase America's Team, the Steelers would be right there,'' said Rood. "They're immensely popular. I would imagine that our handle, just because the Steelers are in there, is going to be pretty good.'' RJ Bell, president of Pregame.com, a Las Vegas-based handicapping-information Web site, said he expects no more than a 5 percent drop from the 2006 Super Bowl gambling record when Pittsburgh takes the Raymond James Stadium field as the fans' Goliath. 'Pure Offense' "Pittsburgh may be the most popular team in the NFL, and Arizona, while not popular, plays the role of David,'' Bell said in a telephone interview. "You've got pure offense versus pure defense, favorite versus underdog, so there's some compelling stories here.'' Pittsburgh had the NFL's stingiest defense this season, allowing 223 points, while Arizona's offense, with 427 points, tied for third among the league's 32 teams. The Cardinals' defense ranked 28th (426 points), and the Steelers' offense was 20th (347 points). "There've been times that the Super Bowl feels like 'Ugh,''' Bell said. "This game doesn't have that feeling for me because we've watched this Arizona team emerge as the underdog on TV right in front of our eyes.'' Upset Stomachs Whether the Cardinals can upset the Steelers remains to be seen. They might just give bookmakers upset stomachs. Sports books try to take an equal amount on both sides of a game by moving the betting line as needed. Profit comes from fees, which vary depending on the type of bet. "We'll try to balance the action and hopefully take some more Steeler money,'' Gardner said. "By game time, we hope to have the same amount of money on both sides, but it never works that way. Arizona's gotten a lot of love, but not necessarily from us bookmakers.'' 
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