Palms Casino offers odds on Super Bowl Loser

Filed in archive on January 14, 2007

The palms casino in las vegas is offering sports bettors a new way to make bets on the Super Bowl this year - bet on the teams that won't win.

It's easy to find sports books with odds on any of the remaining teams to win the Super Bowl, but the Palms is going one step further, allowing you to bet on who will not win. As of Friday, the odds that the San Diego Chargers (heavy Super Bowl favorites) will win the Super Bowl are plus-240 (net $2.40 for each $1 risked) at the Palms. But bettors can also lay minus-280 (risk $2.80 to win $1) that the Chargers will not win the Super Bowl.

"For as long as I can remember, sharper guys (bettors) always said, 'Why don't you allow us to bet against a team winning it?' " said Rich Baccellieri, sports book director at the Palms. "Well, this shows you can offer good odds on the 'yes' side, and still turn around and offer odds on the 'no' - as long as you make fair prices.

"You can't put up poor odds in the future book and then offer yes/no betting, or you would get killed."

This type of betting sets the Palms apart from other sports books in town, and is another way to draw customers in to the casino, according to Baccellieri. "It's not about winning or losing sometimes with this stuff. It's about offering customers something they can't find anywhere else. Then, once they're in the sports book, there's a chance they'll spend some more of their money (elsewhere) in the hotel."

Thanks to the Las Vegas Sun for source material for this article.