ESPN BET's panicked odds boost backfires as Ravens cover, Chiefs win
Typically, sportsbooks post limits on boosts anywhere between $10 and $100, with the limits varying by customer. Many bettors still reported massive bets on the Chiefs +150 with the boost.
FanDuel Sportsbook posted the Chiefs at +124 to open the week, while ESPN BET boosted the Chiefs to +150, a 4.64 percent edge on those lines.
In an added twist, bettors were able to make this endeavor risk-free thanks to some fancy footwork involving a third party.
Exchange betting platforms Prophet Exchange and Sporttrade quickly began telling their customers to bet on the Chiefs +150 on ESPN BET and then hedge in the opposite direction on their platform with the Bills -140.
The bettor you see above, @Hitman428, wagered $15,000 on the Chiefs +150 at boosted odds.
From there, all he would need to do is bet $21,000 (Bills ML -140) on Prophet Exchange to cover the 15,000 bet on the Chiefs +150.
Now he cannot lose, and the Chiefs, who won at +150, just locked him into $1,500 of profit that ESPN BET pays out.
And this scale was even more significant when looking at the Texans-Ravens, as ESPN BET posted much higher limits on Ravens -9.5 +110.
“We can’t stop taking $25K-$50K bets on the Texans right now,” Prophet Exchange co-founder Jake Benzaquen said prior to Saturday’s game, according to Vegas Insider.
Prophet Exchange told The Post that two $50,000 bets were taken on the platform on Texans +9.5 as a direct result of ESPN BET’s odds boost, and the entire $100,000 was matched on the other end, completing the hedge and locking in profit.
Sporttrade CEO Alex Kane told The Post that one bettor bought $40,000 worth of Texans +9.5 at +100 as they hedged off the Ravens -9.5 (+110).
If this bettor got down $40,000 on the Ravens -9.5 on ESPN BET and hedged with Texans -9.5 (+100), they would’ve profited $4,400 risk-free.
“It was the biggest game in company history by two times,” Kane told The Post. “Saturday was our largest volume day ever by about a 15% margin.”
Prophet Exchange reported a similar seven-figure volume as bettors looked to hedge their massive boosted volume on ESPN BET.
Typically, the Super Bowl is the biggest sports betting day of the year.
But thanks to ESPN BET, lightning struck for the betting exchanges and customers cashed in huge.
