| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | Odds Makers Gambling on Injuries
- Thursday, 29 Sep 2005
Injuries have the tendency to cause a lot of uncertainty in sports gambling. On some occasions, online gambling sites hold off on posting their gambling lines until the last minute. Some post it anyways factoring how the injuries would affect the team’s chances. How does an odd maker make these decisions? It depends on the player, the type of injury, and his backup. For instance, if the starting QB goes down with an injury, you can pretty much bet that the odds of given to the team go down with him. From a gambling stand point this is actually works in favor of those who engage in sports gambling because it makes the odds given to the team more favorable. This means that if the team wins, you stand to win more money.
Coming into this week’s game against the Steelers, some online gambling sites had the Patriots as the favorites to win. However, this was before Marvin Harrison went down with an injury during the first half of the game. Had he been injured prior to the game, I doubt that any gambling odds maker would have the Patriots pegged as the winners. Odds makers for sports gambling sites have encountered a situation like that when having to post the odds on the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Jets.
Both teams had players who were carrying an injury. Byron Leftwich the Jaguars’ QB was listed as probable, while Curtis Martin, the Jets RB was listed as questionable. Sport gambling sites felt that Martin would play, the Jets odds will remain pretty much the same. So far this season, Martin hasn’t played like his old self. In the shape he is in, sports gambling sites didn’t feel that Blaylock (Martin’s backup) would be much of downgrade. | |
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