ESPN Magazine Asks: How Often Do You Hear About Betting Odds?
ESPN Magazine had a great little piece about how often folks from various sports sectors hear about betting odds and point spreads mentioned.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the respondents in the poker, NFL, NBA and International football (soccer) claimed to hear about the point spreads most often.
Poker pro Vanessa Rousso: “It’s our culture. Women are always underestimated and I get motivated when I see I’m at 75-1 (odds) in a field of 64 (to win the World Series of Poker)”.
Marquice Cole of the New York Jets gave the number of 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 on how often he hears about betting odds mentioned.
“We always know if we’re the underdog and by how much. It’s not about betting. Guys get fired up when we’re big dogs”.
Perhaps that might explain how the Seattle Seahawks clobbered the New York Giants on Sunday as a big +10 underdog.
Tim Howard of Everton FC in the UK noted that “Betting is a part of the culture in England and in Europe overall. Odds are everywhere.”
Betting is not so popular in the world of NASCAR and driver Kasey Kahne seemed to support this notion.
“I never hear anything about gambling stuff unless we’re racing in Las Vegas or at the Daytona 500.”
And David Backes of the Blues National Hockey League team: “There have been some hard lessons learned by other athletes. You have to stay away from that stuff.”
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
