My friend Nolan Dalla explains why you should ignore stories about someone putting a large sum of money down on the Super Bowl, because the size of their bet doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing…
Consider a report from ESPN this year — one of several reports as it turned out — that BetMGM had reportedly accepted a huge bet totalling $2.3 million on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Someone bet $2.3 million dollars on the game in a single wager. My first and last thought was, and remains, so what? That’s basically a stock trade. Who cares?
To be clear, I understand these tidbits tickle the public’s fancy. But unless the identity of the gambler is disclosed, why does this matter? If a celebrity makes the wager, sure, that’s news. Entertainment news. Not gambling news. It would also be newsworthy if my friend with the knapsack made a wager of that size. But this bettor was likely a nobody, except that he’s got money to bet.
How can we tell? Easy: The line didn’t move.
That tells you everything.
It tells you the casino doesn’t respect the bet, nor the gambler. Another schnook. A fish. A dope.