Bodog: Lakers Won't Win NBA Championship

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Bodog: Lakers Won’t Win NBA Championship

Filed on April 14th, 2009 in Basketball ⋅ ⋅

The Los Angeles Lakers won’t win the NBA championship this year. Or at least that’s what the people at Bodoglife.com believe.

The online sportsbook is taking action on the entire league to win the title, but under a current promotion, if the Lakers win it all — all other futures bets are refunded (up to $50).

“In all my years in the business I’m not aware of any sportsbook that has ever taken a side, especially against a favorite such as this years’ Lakers to win the NBA Championship,” Bodoglife.com sportsbook manager Richard Gardner was quoted as saying by CNBC’s Darren Rovell. “However, I just could not resist the temptation to take a stand, especially since the general public is betting the Lakers down to even money. The Cavs are clearly playing better basketball than the Lakers and if the Celtics can get healthy by the semifinals, they can handle the Lakers as well.”

I’ve spent a lot of time in a lot of sportsbooks, real and online, and they all occasionally offer promotions like this. I’ve never seen one, however, take this big a stand against such a heavy favorite.

Of course, knowing bodog’s reputation, there is also a damn good chance that you won’t get paid even if you have a winning bet. But I digress.

Kudos to bodoglife.com for taking a chance here, as surely this will drive them traffic and increase the number of futures bets placed. But they do stand to lose a lot of money if the Lakers win it all.

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