Bookies profited from Tech’s win over Wake Forest
Georgia Tech’s 38-24 win over Wake Forest Saturday night was an exhilarating win for the Yellow Jackets, their fans and Tech alumni. It was apparently something less than that for many professional gamblers.
The point spread on the game opened last week favoring Tech by eight points, but dropped to between 3½ and 4 points by late Saturday afternoon, a highly unusual shift. It indicated that bettors were heavily wagering on the Demon Deacons to cover the spread. Indeed, according to a tweet from bookmaker William Hill, 45 percent of gamblers were betting on Wake Forest to win outright or lose by less than the spread, but they were laying down 60 percent of the cash being wagered on the game. Those numbers suggested that professional gamblers had a strong belief that Wake Forest was undervalued.
The first half vindicated those bets, as the Demon Deacons were up 21-13 going into intermission. However, the Jackets outscored Wake Forest 25-3 in the second half despite coming up empty on three point-after tries. For those who wagered on Wake Forest as an eight-point underdog, Tech’s touchdown with 1:57 left in the game would have been costly, as it pushed the Jackets’ margin from seven points to 14. It was a win for Tech as well as betting houses and bookmakers, as they kept 60 percent of the money bet on the game.
Tech is 6-0 against the spread this season, according to the website Vegas Insider, the only team in FBS that has covered its spread this season in every game.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
