The World Cup has been a bonanza for gamblers. After one week of play the sports books have been paying bettors off in droves. It’s made soccer fans out of gamblers people who couldn’t tell FIFA from FEMA two weeks ago. There are a number of reasons for the largess betters have been able to nab. One factor has been favorites like Spain shockingly going down in flames. Plus there have been more goals scored in the first round of the World Cup than ever before. This means bettors who bet the over, in terms of scoring, have been raking in the bucks.
In 12 of the first 14 games people betting the over, in terms of goals scored, have cashed in. There’s almost no need for bettors to do much handicapping. While there have been some upsets, the favorites have won 9 of the 14 matches played so far and bettors have had a field day. But the sports books aren’t complaining because there’s been a significant uptick in the number of people placing wagers. The managers of many sports books are rooting for the USA to make it out of group play because of the large number of bettors the team and the tournament will attract going forward.
Handicappers and those who play parlays are having a field day as well. Patriotism is leading people from all over the globe to plunk down wads of cash in support of their home teams. While those two forces have led to many more payouts than some of the sports books would like, overall the World Cup has been a boon for them as well. Plus they hope that some of soccer fans who have gravitated to the betting parlors because of the World Cup will continue to bet on other sports when the tournament is over.
While USA victories are good for business, with many sports books offering 100-to-1 odds against them, the house doesn’t want the U.S. To win too many games. Plus with key favorites winning the last game of the day, the sports books have been taking a bath on parlays. Add the fact there have been very few draws (on which the sports books usually make loads of money) in the World Cup so far and it’s easy to see why the sports books are taking in the chin while better are smiling all the way to the bank.
To the chagrin of the sports books, the rare draw between Nigeria and Iran was one of the matches which drew the fewest bets. With the USA both winning and scoring more goals than the sports books anticipated, the pay day the sports books got from the Nigeria-Iran draw did little offset the payouts to those who bet the Americans to win and go over the scoring line. When John Brooks scored to give the Americans the win over Ghana, bettors rejoiced, but the sports books could only take their lumps and hope to cash in later.