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As Stefon Diggs raced down the sideline for a touchdown with the clock expiring, it wasn’t just the Minnesota Vikings who got arguably one of the most improbable victories in NFL playoff history. Sportsbooks also saw their fortunes take a swing, in some cases to a pretty hefty degree.
The Vikings turned what seemed like a certain 24-23 loss into a 29-24 victory as a 5.5-point home favorite Sunday night, with Diggs’ shocking catch and run – and equally if not more shocking defense by the Saints – securing the win.
“That was about a $350,000 swing to the favor of the house,” said Jason Simbal, vice president of risk management for CG Technology in Las Vegas. The primary reason for the swing was CG’s moneyline liability on the Saints, including a six-figure wager. All that liability evaporated on one amazing play and turned a losing game into a winner.
At the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook, the impact wasn’t quite as significant, but it was no less welcome.
“It wasn’t a huge swing for us. Not as big as you would expect. Less than six figures,” said Jay Kornegay, who runs the Superbook as vice president of race and sports for the Westgate. “If they would have kicked that extra point, it would have been a bigger swing in our favor – another solid five figures on top of the original swing.”
Several minutes after the score and a review of the play, the teams did go back on the field for the extra point. But the Vikings simply took a knee to officially end the game.
Sportsbooks didn’t necessarily come out in the black from the play, but at least limited the red ink a bit more than they would have otherwise. Such was the case for William Hill US in Las Vegas.
“It saved us some money,” said Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill US. “We still lost big to the game because (the final margin) fell at 5 and the total went over.”
Scott Cooley, odds consultant for offshore sportsbook Bookmaker.eu, said his shop actually benefited from the Vikes not booting the extra point.
“We still lost on the game, but it saved us a ton with the -5 pushes and the -5.5 losses,” Cooley said of Vikings tickets that either only got a refund or were winners for the house. Cooley didn’t want to provide a specific amount, but said the savings was into six figures.
Fellow offshore shop TheGreek.com had a similar situation, turning a losing outcome into a little less of a losing outcome.
“Our best result was Minnesota by 7 or more,” said Scott Kaminsky, director of TheGreek.com, noting his shop had the spread higher than most throughout the week, including as high as 6. “We ended up losing, but 5 was a little better than 3 or less for us, or if it stayed the same.”
Most bettors and books certainly expected it to stay the same, a 24-23 Saints win and cover after a remarkable comeback from a 17-0 deficit by Drew Brees and Co. That would have been the preference of South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews, who said Minnesota by 5 was a six-figure hit for his shop.
“We wrote a lot of business at -4.5,” Andrews said.
The last couple minutes of the game – a touchdown put the Saints up 21-20; the Vikes took a 23-21 lead; the Saints went back up 24-23; then Diggs’ outlandish TD won it – was a stunning sequence of events for winners and losers. But Simbal has gotten used to surprising turns of fortune in this business.
“I’m never shocked anymore,” he said. “Just glad we didn’t lose money.”
