Sports fans love underdog stories. That is, aside from gamblers.
Anybody placing serious money on a sports event really only cares about one thing: making money. So save your underdog, rags-to-riches tales for another crowd. The fact that Jim Herman, a former assistant pro and career grinder who was ranked outside the top 300 in the world before matching the lowest 36-hole weekend mark on the PGA Tour, went on to win the Wyndham Championship, well that’s nice. But there were people with serious money on the line, and Herman’s win meant less money in their bank accounts on Monday morning.
Just one gambler at the Las Vegas Superbook, one of Vegas’ biggest sportsbooks, placed a wager on Herman to win pre-tournament (Jim Herman was 600-1), according to Jeff Sherman, the book’s VP of risk management. That bet was for $2. So consider all the thousands of dollars wagered on the Wyndham Championship, even though it’s not a premiere event, and the sportsbooks cleaned up on the weekend.
A couple gamblers in particular lost out on some big, big wagers. The Action Network’s Darren Rovell reported on this big-time bet at PointsBet, which led to a very disappointed gambler with Billy Horschel’s close call.
And then there was this bettor who went BIG on Si Woo Kim, who led by two shots heading into the the final round. Si Woo shot an even-par 70 after getting into trouble early in his round.
If anything, both these bets might prove to anybody looking to get more serious in golf betting: Predicting golf tournaments, even with a few holes to go, is really, really tough.