Betting wine for football
With the Super Bowl looming on February 5, some wine geeks may be wondering what to drink during the event — while others may be wondering how they can win some wine.
Betting and sports have a long (March Madness) but limited (Nevada) tradition in the US but it is only thanks to Las Vegas we have an indication of what the odds are of one team winning over another. The most common indicator is the “spread” or number of point margin of victory of one team over another. In this year’s Super Bowl XL (those are Roman numerals, not a jersey size), the Pittsburgh Steelers are the favorite by 3.5 points over the Seattle Seahawks.
Thus a fan of the Seahawks could take 3.5 points, see their team lose 20-17 but still win on the bet. You win while the team loses. This suboptimal outcome means that your bet is not aligned with your enthusiasm for the team.
I put this puzzle to my friend who writes about sports on Gothamist and he advised me of the “moneyline,” which awards different values to bets while not offering any point spread. Thus if your team wins, you win the wager. The moneyline for the Superbowl is Seattle +160 and Pittsburgh -180. That means to place a $100 on the Seahawks in Las Vegas would win back your original wager plus $160. A $180 bet on Pittsburgh would yield the original wager plus $100.
Thus wine geeks who are fans of the Seahawks could bet a $10 wine with a friend and Pittsburgh supporter who would put up a $16 bottle of wine. Say, a Tres Picos for a Muga Reserva? It’s not exactly paralleling the moneyline but it roughly corresponds–and what a better way to celebrate friendship than if you had to drink the bottle together?
Assuming, of course, that you both are over 21 and live in Nevada.
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