Total Season Wins bets -- Buffalo and Cincinnati

I was wondering today what happened to total season wins bets for Buffalo and Cincinnati.

It's my understand that both teams decided to treat the game against each other, on Jan 2, as if it never happened. Events happened the following week that made it such that the outcome of their game, if played after all, wouldn't affect the playoffs.

Even without that game, both teams easily had enough wins to cover the over side of their total season win bets:

The line on total season wins for Buffalo was 11.5 and they won 13.
The line on total season wins for Cincy was 9.5 and they won 12.

Not that it's relevant to this situation, but in the event of a tie, neither team is awarded a win nor half a win.

According to the LVRJ, the South Point refunded both under and over bets. Meanwhile, the MGM paid the overs and refunded the unders.

It just goes to show that you should be careful about throwing away what you assume are losing tickets. I personally have a bin of many hundreds of losing tickets, going back decades. Not that I keep them for this reason. I used to keep them to document gambling losses, when I itemized, and the habit stuck, even after the increase the standard deduction.

The question for the poll is if you ran a sportsbook and the policy was every game must be played for total season win bets to have action, what would you do?

That’s awful. I’ve always hated that rule on totals for baseball games that get called off after the runs have gone over.

Quote: Wizard

I was wondering today what happened to total season wins bets for Buffalo and Cincinnati.

It's my understand that both teams decided to treat the game against each other, on Jan 2, as if it never happened. Events happened the following week that made it such that the outcome of their game, if played after all, wouldn't affect the playoffs.

Even without that game, both teams easily had enough wins to cover the over side of their total season win bets:

The line on total season wins for Buffalo was 11.5 and they won 13.
The line on total season wins for Cincy was 9.5 and they won 12.

Not that it's relevant to this situation, but in the event of a tie, neither team is awarded a win nor half a win.

According to the LVRJ, the South Point refunded both under and over bets. Meanwhile, the MGM paid the overs and refunded the unders.

It just goes to show that you should be careful about throwing away what you assume are losing tickets. I personally have a bin of many hundreds of losing tickets, going back decades. Not that I keep them for this reason. I used to keep them to document gambling losses, when I itemized, and the habit stuck, even after the increase the standard deduction.

The question for the poll is if you ran a sportsbook and the policy was every game must be played for total season win bets to have action, what would you do?
link to original post

You are 100% wrong on your statement that the outcome of the game would not have affected the playoffs!!!!! Had the game been played, and the Bills won, they would have been the number one seed. As a result of it not being played they are the number 2 seed. This is HUGE in the NFL! The number one seed gets a bye, meaning they only have to win two games to get to the Super Bowl, not 3! And they get a full extra week of rest which is a big advantage this time of year. And they would get to play the two games they need at home! The ONLY concession the NFL made to the Bills is that IF the Bills win their first two games the third game, if against KC, is played at a neutral site.

Now to your question…. I have a bunch of these season long bets. I’m pretty sure all of them state the exact conditions that would make it a ‘no bet’. I am going to get screwed on all of mine. I had Bills number one seed at I think 4-1. Plus being number 1 seed is a huge advantage to try and win Super Bowl. That’s my big season long bet.

Your question is too easy. If ‘the policy’ is every game needs to be played, and every game wasn’t played, then it’s no bet.

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: Wizard

I was wondering today what happened to total season wins bets for Buffalo and Cincinnati.

It's my understand that both teams decided to treat the game against each other, on Jan 2, as if it never happened. Events happened the following week that made it such that the outcome of their game, if played after all, wouldn't affect the playoffs.

Even without that game, both teams easily had enough wins to cover the over side of their total season win bets:

The line on total season wins for Buffalo was 11.5 and they won 13.
The line on total season wins for Cincy was 9.5 and they won 12.

Not that it's relevant to this situation, but in the event of a tie, neither team is awarded a win nor half a win.

According to the LVRJ, the South Point refunded both under and over bets. Meanwhile, the MGM paid the overs and refunded the unders.

It just goes to show that you should be careful about throwing away what you assume are losing tickets. I personally have a bin of many hundreds of losing tickets, going back decades. Not that I keep them for this reason. I used to keep them to document gambling losses, when I itemized, and the habit stuck, even after the increase the standard deduction.

The question for the poll is if you ran a sportsbook and the policy was every game must be played for total season win bets to have action, what would you do?
link to original post

You are 100% wrong on your statement that the outcome of the game would not have affected the playoffs!!!!! Had the game been played, and the Bills won, they would have been the number one seed. As a result of it not being played they are the number 2 seed. This is HUGE in the NFL! The number one seed gets a bye, meaning they only have to win two games to get to the Super Bowl, not 3! And they get a full extra week of rest which is a big advantage this time of year. And they would get to play the two games they need at home! The ONLY concession the NFL made to the Bills is that IF the Bills win their first two games the third game, if against KC, is played at a neutral site.

Now to your question…. I have a bunch of these season long bets. I’m pretty sure all of them state the exact conditions that would make it a ‘no bet’. I am going to get screwed on all of mine. I had Bills number one seed at I think 4-1. Plus being number 1 seed is a huge advantage to try and win Super Bowl. That’s my big season long bet.

Your question is too easy. If ‘the policy’ is every game needs to be played, and every game wasn’t played, then it’s no bet.
link to original post

You should thank the NFL. You and every other Bills fan now have a built in excuse for when Josh Allen inevitably chokes in the playoffs.

Quote: unJon

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: Wizard

I was wondering today what happened to total season wins bets for Buffalo and Cincinnati.

It's my understand that both teams decided to treat the game against each other, on Jan 2, as if it never happened. Events happened the following week that made it such that the outcome of their game, if played after all, wouldn't affect the playoffs.

Even without that game, both teams easily had enough wins to cover the over side of their total season win bets:

The line on total season wins for Buffalo was 11.5 and they won 13.
The line on total season wins for Cincy was 9.5 and they won 12.

Not that it's relevant to this situation, but in the event of a tie, neither team is awarded a win nor half a win.

According to the LVRJ, the South Point refunded both under and over bets. Meanwhile, the MGM paid the overs and refunded the unders.

It just goes to show that you should be careful about throwing away what you assume are losing tickets. I personally have a bin of many hundreds of losing tickets, going back decades. Not that I keep them for this reason. I used to keep them to document gambling losses, when I itemized, and the habit stuck, even after the increase the standard deduction.

The question for the poll is if you ran a sportsbook and the policy was every game must be played for total season win bets to have action, what would you do?
link to original post

You are 100% wrong on your statement that the outcome of the game would not have affected the playoffs!!!!! Had the game been played, and the Bills won, they would have been the number one seed. As a result of it not being played they are the number 2 seed. This is HUGE in the NFL! The number one seed gets a bye, meaning they only have to win two games to get to the Super Bowl, not 3! And they get a full extra week of rest which is a big advantage this time of year. And they would get to play the two games they need at home! The ONLY concession the NFL made to the Bills is that IF the Bills win their first two games the third game, if against KC, is played at a neutral site.

Now to your question…. I have a bunch of these season long bets. I’m pretty sure all of them state the exact conditions that would make it a ‘no bet’. I am going to get screwed on all of mine. I had Bills number one seed at I think 4-1. Plus being number 1 seed is a huge advantage to try and win Super Bowl. That’s my big season long bet.

Your question is too easy. If ‘the policy’ is every game needs to be played, and every game wasn’t played, then it’s no bet.
link to original post

You should thank the NFL. You and every other Bills fan now have a built in excuse for when Josh Allen inevitably chokes in the playoffs.
link to original post

You mean the Josh Allen who was absolutely amazing in the playoffs last year? How many TDs did he have in the last two minutes?

But they are certainly not markedly better than Cincy or KC. I think they are a little bit better than both.

But you are also right to express concern over Allen’s recent play. Too many interceptions trying to be too good.

Let the games begin!

If I had bet the over on the Bengals, could I have cashed in as soon as they hit ten wins or would I have had to wait until the season ended?

Quote: SOOPOO

You are 100% wrong on your statement that the outcome of the game would not have affected the playoffs!!!!! Had the game been played, and the Bills won, they would have been the number one seed. As a result of it not being played they are the number 2 seed. This is HUGE in the NFL! The number one seed gets a bye, meaning they only have to win two games to get to the Super Bowl, not 3! And they get a full extra week of rest which is a big advantage this time of year. And they would get to play the two games they need at home! The ONLY concession the NFL made to the Bills is that IF the Bills win their first two games the third game, if against KC, is played at a neutral site.
link to original post

I looked into this and it seems I was wrong.

Does anyone know if the two teams made an effort to finish the game. Did Cincinnati have the same playoff position regardless of the outcome? Was there ever any talk to finish the game in an empty stadium?

Quote: Wizard

Does anyone know if the two teams made an effort to finish the game. Did Cincinnati have the same playoff position regardless of the outcome? Was there ever any talk to finish the game in an empty stadium?

I did hear that the Bills were on a plane that very same evening, heading back to Buffalo. Initially I wondered... why don't they all just stay in town that evening, and attempt to resume the game that next day, on Tuesday?

I never heard or read about any talks. Any talks that were done between the Bills, the Bengals, and the NFL office were most likely done behind closed doors and not recorded or revealed. I'm sure several suggestions were all made about resuming the game... but none that were deemed acceptable. It was a bad situation all around.

If the Bengals had beaten the Bills that night, and all other games finished exactly as they did, they would have been the 2nd Seed (instead of #3) and would be hosting the Dolphins this weekend. Baltimore, the 6th Seed, would be traveling to Buffalo who would have been the 3rd Seed.

And yes, if the Bills had won the game that night, they'd be the #1 Seed and would be off this weekend and KC as the #2 Seed would be hosting Miami.

You can confirm this with the ESPN playoff machine:

http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

Click on the Week 17 tab and mark the desired result for that unplayed game and watch the playoff order change accordingly.

(Please tell me you're familiar with this tool. If not, you're in for a treat. It's absolutely wonderful. I've been using it for many years now.)

Quote: Wizard

Quote: SOOPOO

You are 100% wrong on your statement that the outcome of the game would not have affected the playoffs!!!!! Had the game been played, and the Bills won, they would have been the number one seed. As a result of it not being played they are the number 2 seed. This is HUGE in the NFL! The number one seed gets a bye, meaning they only have to win two games to get to the Super Bowl, not 3! And they get a full extra week of rest which is a big advantage this time of year. And they would get to play the two games they need at home! The ONLY concession the NFL made to the Bills is that IF the Bills win their first two games the third game, if against KC, is played at a neutral site.
link to original post

I looked into this and it seems I was wrong.

Does anyone know if the two teams made an effort to finish the game. Did Cincinnati have the same playoff position regardless of the outcome? Was there ever any talk to finish the game in an empty stadium?
link to original post

The teams did the opposite. Once the gravity of the situation became clear, they were not going to resume the game that day. I believe the NFL delayed canceling the game for an hour or so hoping for positive news…. like…. ‘Hamlin is awake and alert at a local hospital with no neurological deficit’. Once that type of news wasn’t coming, there was no way the players would resume. The NFL wanted to resume the game on a later date, but there were too many logistical problems to overcome. There just wasn’t enough time to safely and fairly squeeze it in and still have the playoffs start this Saturday. If they did decide to delay the playoffs by a week, then they could be playing this Saturday. There would be absolutely no reason to consider playing it in an empty stadium; it would be played in Cincinnati like it was supposed to be. And sold out EASILY.

The post before mine details how the Bengals were screwed the most. Had they won they would have gotten the number 2 seed. And HOSTED the Bills if they met in the second round. Now they will be AT the Bills if both teams win their first game.

Quote: EdCollins

You can confirm this with the ESPN playoff machine:

http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

Click on the Week 17 tab and mark the desired result for that unplayed game and watch the playoff order change accordingly.

(Please tell me you're familiar with this tool. If not, you're in for a treat. It's absolutely wonderful. I've been using it for many years now.)
link to original post

How do I "mark" the desired result?