167 People Successfully Placed A Wager On "Will Luis Suarez Bite Someone" Yesterday
(Source) When Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez apparently bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, a man living more than 5,300 miles was awoken from a deep sleep.The man’s name is Thomas Syverson, a Norwegian living in Trondheim, the country’s third largest city. Syverson saw that Betsson, an online gambling site based in Malta, was offering 175-1 odds that Suarez, who had bitten other players before, would bite someone during the World Cup and, on a hunch, placed the equivalent of a $5.25 bet (3.85 euros) on the first day of action in Brazil.
“I had 32 [Norwegian] Krone on it, so it was just for fun,” Syverson told ESPN.com. When Suarez took the apparent bite in the 79th minute, Syverson said he was awoken by a friend who texted him what had just happened. Sure enough, Syverson checked and the equivalent of $916 (673 euros) was deposited into his account for winning the bet. Andreas Bardun, sportsbook manager for gambling site Betsson, where Syverson placed his bet, said 167 gamblers placed bets on the prop. The biggest winner was a Norwegian who won $3,300, he said, but he cited company policy not to disclose any of the names of its bettors.
…
…
This is when you know you have a biting problem. When a Sportsbook actually offers prop bet lines on whether or not you’ll bite someone. It’s like the “Will the first play of the Super Bowl be a safety bet” (which also finally won this year at 50-1). It’s a crazy bet you put a little money on just for fun, never actually thinking it will come through. But not for the Cannibal. No no no, now that we have a greater picture of how crazy Luis Suarez is the 175-1 odds were a steal, highway robbery. By my rough estimate (I’ve only seen Luis Suarez play in 2 games) he bites someone at least half the time he’s on the pitch. Other people swear or punch, Luis Suarez bites, that’s just what he does. I love it.
…
…
PS
To peek into the mind of a degenerate gambler for a second this bet is really about the story. Every gambler has one. Where the payout isn’t worth as much as the bet itself, being able to say I was one of those guys who took the Luis Suarez bite bet, that’s worth more than a couple hundred bucks. Mine is personally the year I took Sonya Thomas aka the Black Widow to eat over 36.5 hot dogs in the Nathan’s 4th of July Competition. CRUSHED it with 40. Never had a bet feel so good as when she was finishing that 37th dog with her puke covered face. Also this was the moment it was pretty clear I had a serious problem.