Sports betting winners and losers: UFC main event loss for Daniel Cormier cost a bettor $120,000

Daniel Cormier was a bit of a sentimental pick at UFC 252. Nobody is betting six figures on emotion though.

Cormier brought in a lot of money for his main event fight against Stipe Miocic, including one enormous wager at BetMGM. Miocic controlled the fight, with the help of an unintentional but controversial eye poke that the referee didn’t catch that tore Cormier’s cornea. Miocic won by unanimous decision.

Cormier was getting most of the bets and money early in the week, and one bettor really liked his chances. That bettor put $120,000 on Cormier to win.

Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole said about 70 percent of the money came in on Cormier, who was a slight favorite for most of the week. That was the most-bet fight of UFC 252, meaning it was likely a nice night for the sportsbooks.

Favorites were 7-4 through the card, but one big favorite lost and Cormier was good for the books too. Sean O’Malley came in as a -304 favorite, but injured his ankle in the first round and lost to Marlon Vera, a +225 underdog. Presumably plenty of parlays included O’Malley.

Miocic backers had a nice night, especially if they liked the heavyweight to win in a decision.

BetMGM had boosted the odds on a Miocic-Cormier decision, which was a nice payout for anyone who grabbed the improved odds.

Cormier had said he was retiring after the fight win or lose, though after the fight he didn’t completely close the door on another match. He never really got much going against Miocic, who executed his gameplan of keeping Cormier against the cage and not being taken down. Miocic never lost control of the fight, which the sportsbooks probably didn’t mind.

Here are some of the other winners and losers from the past week in the sports betting world:

WINNERS

Ja Morant’s cover-saving meaningless 3-pointer: By the time the highly entertaining Portland Trail Blazers-Memphis Grizzlies play-in game Saturday tipped off, Portland was a six-point favorite. Those who took the Blazers looked like they’d get a lucky push when the Blazers took a late six-point lead.

Morant came to the rescue for Memphis backers. Morant hit a leaning 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2.1 seconds left, virtually ensuring a cover. Portland hit another free throw for the 126-122 final to move on to be the No. 8 seed.

It was a hard loss for Portland bettors — expect plenty more bad beats as the playoffs start this week — but the Trail Blazers have bigger things in mind ...

Portland Trail Blazers: The NBA series prices are sky high for the first round. The Houston Rockets’ odds have tumbled down to -152 due to Russell Westbrook’s quad injury that will keep him out of Game 1 at least, but every other favorite in the first round is at least -278. The Utah Jazz had the lowest odds among the underdogs, but that spiked when Mike Conley left the bubble. The Nuggets are -278 now.

It’s a good opportunity to cash a nice bet if you can pick the right underdog, and presumably a few people will take a shot on the Blazers at +340 over the Lakers. A 1 vs. 8 upset is very rare and you’re betting against LeBron James if you take the Blazers, but Portland has some upset potential. Damian Lillard has been playing out of his mind. CJ McCollum showed how dangerous he still is late in the win over the Grizzlies on Saturday. Jusuf Nurkic had a monster game on Saturday and is a big key in the middle.

Will the Blazers knock off the Lakers, who have been lackluster at best in the bubble? Likely not. But they have a lot of key ingredients in place and some enticing odds. Lillard’s brilliance gives Portland a shot.

San Francisco Giants over trend: Hat tip to my colleague Scott Pianowski for pointing this one out: San Francisco has turned into a hitter’s park. At the very least, the over is hitting at a crazy rate. All three games against the Oakland A’s at Oracle Park last weekend went over the total, and none were close (some of that was due to the Giants bullpen, and we’ll get to that in a second). The over has hit eight times in nine Giants home games. Some archways were closed and the ball is flying out of right field. And everywhere else, really.

Beware of any trends, because the sportsbooks know about them too. They’re not going to let the over hit at an 89 percent rate all season; the lines will be adjusted. But keep in mind that there has been a pretty significant change in one of MLB’s notoriously tough parks on hitters.

LOSERS

Giants bad beat ... twice: If you bet the Giants over the Oakland A’s on Friday or Saturday night, you felt pretty good going into the ninth inning both times. And you’re wondering how you didn’t cash either ticket.

Friday’s loss was especially crushing. The Giants were a +170 underdog and up 7-2 in the ninth inning. NBC Sports Bay Area said that according to Stats Platform, the Giants had won 2,133 straight games with at least a five-run lead in the ninth. They had not blown a five-run lead in the ninth or later since 1929.

Imagine taking the A’s for some live betting action as the ninth started, then watching as Stephen Piscotty tied the game with a grand slam. The A’s won it in the 10th.

Then the next day, the Giants melted down again. As a +110 underdog this time, the Giants had a 6-3 lead going into the ninth. Down to their last strike, A’s outfielder Mark Canha hit a three-run homer off Trevor Gott — who blew saves in both games — to give Oakland a 7-6 lead. The A’s finished the dramatic win in the bottom of the ninth.

Either of the losses would be a horrendous bad beat. Hopefully nobody had the Giants in both games.

Anyone who won’t win $1.2 million when the Bengals take the AFC’s top seed: The most surprising gambling-related news of the weekend wasn’t anything that happened in the Octagon or even the Giants’ collapses. It came when a bettor in Las Vegas decided to put down $5,000 on the Cincinnati Bengals to be the No. 1 seed in the AFC this season.

At least say this: It would pay well. If the Bengals are the AFC’s top team, that bettor would take home $1.2 million.

The Bengals will be better, with rookie first pick Joe Burrow at quarterback. But there’s a reason they’re 240-to-1 to win the AFC. Still, it would be a bet for the ages if the Bengals end up shocking the world.

Value on the Vegas Golden Knights to win it all: If you wanted Vegas to win the Stanley Cup before the NHL’s restart, the odds were a lot better.

The Tampa Bay Lightning was the favorite to win it all when hockey came back, but that has changed. After Vegas’ impressive start to its playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks, while the Columbus Blue Jackets have given the Lightning a challenge (Tampa Bay leads that series 2-1) has shifted the odds. Vegas, at +350 on Monday morning, is the favorite to win the Stanley Cup. The Colorado Avalanche have moved up to second at +500 and the Philadelphia Flyers and Lightning are next at +550. The St. Louis Blues, the top seed in the West, fell behind 0-2 in their series against the Vancouver Canucks, which shifted odds for some West teams. The Blues got a big overtime win in Game 3 on Sunday (they’re sitting at +2100 if you believe Sunday night was the start of a rebound).

Vegas came close to a Stanley Cup in their first season as an expansion team, and the odds indicate they have a good chance to finish that business this season.

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