Lungfish's Greatest Plunders and Worst Blunders, vol. 3

This one still sticks in my craw. I'm not sure exactly where my craw is located, but by golly, this particular thing is so deeply embedded that it can't be extracted with a pair of needle-nose pliers and a strong grip. Let's flashback to 2002. The online sportsbook was offering prop bets on the NFL draft. There were multiple over/unders they were offering on where certain players would get taken in the draft.

Now I had gleaned some information from a couple of draft insiders that had been interviewed on WFAN (the local sports talk radio station). They had a strong hunch that the Giants were going to draft a tight end with their 14th pick, namely Jeremy Shockey from the University of Miami. Well, that was good enough for me. I checked, and the over/under was set at 15.5 for him. However, there was one bit of semantics that I needed to be cleared up for me.

Usually, betting over/unders is pretty clear cut. Say the over/under line in a baseball game is set at 7.5 runs. You can bet if you think the combined score in that game will be over 7.5 runs or under 7.5 runs. If you bet the under and the final score was 4-3, you're buying a round with your newfound cash. If you bet the under and the final score was 5-3, you're crying in your beer.

Now in this case, since I thought Shockey would get drafted 14th, did that mean I should bet over or under 15.5? One one hand, using the same logic as before, 14 is under 15.5, so it would be an under bet. On the other hand, if this was a race and Shockey finished in 14th place, that would be be over 15.5th place, right?

Anyway, I decide to call up customer service. Since gambling over the internet is illegal here in the States, online sportsbooks are usually based in seedy offshore islands. This sportsbook was centered in Antigua and so was their customer service. I was on the phone for 30 minutes, asking this question 50 different ways, making sure. There was a bit of a language barrier- I'm not sure what the native language of Antigua is, but the agent I spoke to had a thick accent. The customer service rep told me, unequivocally, that I should bet the over if I thought Shockey would get drafted in 14th position, since 14th position was over 15.5th position. I got his name, thanked him, and got my $500 in on the over.

The next day, the more I thought about it, the more I doubted what was told to me. I called up customer service again, and I was now being given a different answer! This new customer service rep was saying I should have bet the under, and that I was an idiot because clearly, 14 is under 15.5. I asked to speak with a manager, and after being put on hold for an eternity, the manager told me the same thing. I asked if they could just refund my bet then, and again, I was stonewalled. They said that if I wanted to reverse my bet, I'd have to place a bet the opposite way and eat the juice. Well, this wasn't an option for me either, since I'd placed the maximum allowable amount already ($500)... and they wouldn't raise the limit of action they'd take on the bet to accomodate me. I cited the previous rep I'd spoke to on the other call and demanded that the tape of my conversation be pulled. The manager consented and placed me on hold. After literally being on hold for 1 hour, I hung up seething.

I called up my friend, Slewyou, who also had an account at the same sportsbook. I told him I'd cut him a check for $500, if he'd deposit $500 into his account and place a bet on the Jeremy Shockey* under. He did, and of course by this time the line had moved. $500 would only win $333 now. I'd be losing $167, but that was better than losing all $500.

Straight Wager 04/19/02 18:29 ET
381.00/346.36 Result: Wager Lost
Jeremy Shockey - Over/Under Draft Position
Over/Under Draft Position 14
Over/Under Draft Position 0 04/20/02 (12:30 ET)
Over 15.5 (-110)

Straight Wager 04/19/02 18:24 ET
119.00/108.18 Result: Wager Lost
Jeremy Shockey - Over/Under Draft Position
Over/Under Draft Position 14
Over/Under Draft Position 0 04/20/02 (12:30 ET)
Over 15.5 (-110)


* Jeremy Shockey's broke his leg in 2007 and did not play in the Giants' win in Superbowl XLII. After arguments with his head coach and GM, he was traded to New Orleans. He played in only 3 games with the Saints before season ending hernia surgery.