If You Bet on the Phillies to Win Last Night, Las Vegas Is Paying You Money Today

If you took a large sum of money to Las Vegas and placed it on the Phillies to win last night, well, life is looking pretty good for you. Actually, it's looking pretty good no matter what the sum you bet, because Las Vegas is paying out all of the bets that were placed on Philadelphia (most of them at -170).

Confused? Of course you are. Fortunately, we have a sports book director to explain.

Las Vegas sports books are paying off Game 5 side bets on Philadelphia, which was about a minus-170 favorite. Wagers on totals and run-line bets are being refunded because rules stipulate that at least 8 1/2 innings must be played.
"We're just following the regular baseball rules. This is a very common rule," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. "We can't make exceptions.

And, as Kornegay said, if the Rays come back and win and you put money on them, well, it's one of the "worst bad beats" in the history of sports.

And he's dead on, too. The reality is that the Rays could win the game (although the entire series has already been tainted by Bud Selig's stink) and whatever money various gamblers put on them to cover simply won't pay off.

You see, if you'd just bet on (hypothetically) "Phillies -1" or the over/under of the game, you'd be getting your money back, because they require 8.5 innings of play; but this bizarre quirk of a rule in the Las Vegas sports wagering law books allows for a money line to be paid off with only five innings (i.e. a full game) of baseball played.

Of course, you can always just double up your wager on a "get your money back" prop bet with the Rays as money line dogs tonight (or December, whenever the season concludes) -- the Hilton has determined that with the Phillies receiving an extra bat, they'll be the favorites whenever the game resumes.