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PrintOdds & Ends is BTB’s look at betting stories making headlines both in newspapers and on the Web.
No one seems to be a fan of the NFL’s replacement referees. Not the coaches nor the players nor writer after writer after writer.
The NFL’s owners and referees association appear to be at an impasse, with the latest reports saying the lockout will stretch into at least Week 3 or Week 4 of the regular season.
If Jim Harbaugh saw the latest odds released by BetOnline, his head might explode.
Those odds suggest there’s only roughly a 28 percent chance that the league comes to agreement with the refs before the season starts.
We’ve seen nothing to suggest otherwise, and right now it’s more comedy than anything. The replacement referees are in over their heads and everyone knows it. It’s just that no one cares that much because the games—and their outcomes—don’t matter.
But the public pressure will only intensify if this starts affecting regular season games.
GRANDMA’S LOST BET
Linda Aldred wasn’t very confident in her grandson’s chances at medaling in the London Olympics.
But, still, the 66-year-old and her sister decided to plop down a whole £5 on Sam Oldham—her 19-year-old grandson on the Great Britain gymnastics team—to win a medal. She got 200-to-1 odds, but those apparently didn’t matter much because, as Aldred told The Telegraph, “I considered the bet already lost.”
Then, Oldham and the rest of his teammates pulled off a minor shocker, winning the country’s first medal (bronze) in men’s gymnastics in 100 years.
Those five pounds had suddenly, it appeared, turned into £1,000.
But not so fast. When Aldred tried to cash her ticket, the sportsbook, Betfred, turned her down. They claimed the bet was for individual medals only.
“I was stunned,” Aldred told The Telegraph. “I am really happy Sam won. It is more the principle than the money, but I could have used the winnings to pay for my ticket to see Sam at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.”
ODDS & ENDS
- A 54-year-old woman who suffers from Meniere’s disease, cerebral palsy and has occasional bouts with vertigo was banned from a local casino because they mistakenly thought she was drunk.
- A Massachusetts man “just rolled with it” after receiving the wrong scratch-off ticket, and that incorrect ticket won him $1 million.
- The “Game of the Month” thread is alive and kicking in the BTB Sports Betting Forum, and forum member Vincent Valour offers up a five-star, 100 million dime WNBA slammer.
- Internet poker took a step in the right direction yesterday, with a New York federal judge ruling that poker is more a game of skill than chance.
