Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP
Los Angeles Rams holder Johnny Hekker (6) throws a pass after he botched a hold on an extra-point kick during the first half of Super Bowl 56 in Inglewood, Calif. The play has become controversial in the sports betting community: Was it a missed extra kick or a missed two-point converversion? The game’s official scorer ruled it a missed conversion.
Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Some bettors in Las Vegas may have a winning sportsbook ticket from the Super Bowl and not know about it because of one play early in the second quarter.
Others could be heading to the window believing they have money coming back from a wager, only to learn the ticket they are holding is a loser.
Los Angeles Rams holder Johnny Hekker botched placing the ball down for a would-be extra point attempt by placekicker Matt Gay, only to jump up and attempt to throw the ball toward the end zone. The incomplete pass was ruled a failed two-point conversion by the game’s official scorekeeper, meaning bettors who had “Yes” on whether there would be a two-point conversion attempt won their wager.
That Super Bowl prop opened at even money on the “Yes” at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.
Other books had a prop bet on whether Gay would miss an extra point, which many would assume happened during the play. But he was 2-for-2 on extra point kicks, according to the box score.
“The bottom line, and we say this all the time, is we have to go by what the official box score says,” said Jay Kornegay, vice president of the Westgate SuperBook. “We can’t vary from the official box score.”
Kornegay said 70% of the tickets written at the Westgate were on prop bets. It takes a team of seven sportsbook officials about three hours after the game to input the results into the system.
They aren’t taking stats from the television broadcast or online box score. Instead, they wait for the official scorer — and the number included in the official box score.
“There is a lot of conversation and a lot of focus,” Kornegay said. “We are double- and triple-checking everything (in data entry) for accuracy.”
In the case of Hekker’s mishap, it didn’t help that the game’s announcers, NBC’s Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, kept saying it was a missed extra point, Kornegay said. Additionally, Hekker’s heave was not credited as a pass in the box score because it happened on a conversion attempt, and no stats are awarded on conversion attempts.
Still, the number of players to have a pass attempt covered the over at 2.5 attempts, because Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon and the Rams’ Cooper Kupp had passes on trick plays later in the game.
The Super Bowl brings hordes of recreational bettors to the sportsbooks, and casinos are usually heavily staffed to manage the uptake in business. Part of the process is making sure customers have their questions answered, Kornegay said.
“We try to be as transparent as we can,” he said. “We aren’t looking to trick people. We want people to know what they are betting into. There are a number of disclaimers to make it as clear as possible so they have a great experience.”
The botched hold also proved costly, in particular, for a bettor at Bellagio who had wagered $1 million on the Rams to score more than 13.5 points in the first half.
Of course, the special teams mishap wasn’t the only reason the Rams didn’t score more than 13 points in the first half — there was still 12:51 left in the second quarter after the touchdown was scored and the Rams had two more drives. The first of those stalled when Rams quarterback Matt Stafford threw an interception in the end zone. The second drive resulted in a punt, and the Rams’ 13-10 lead stood as the halftime score.
The botched hold also made many Bengals backers for the game a winner. The Rams closed as a 4-point favorite, meaning that had Gay been able to make his kick, Los Angeles would have won by four points to result in a push.
