ESPN BET’s panicked odds boost backfires as Ravens cover, Chiefs win
Scared money doesn’t make money, and for ESPN BET it lost them money.
In what appeared to be an attempt for ESPN BET to even out its book as massive action came in on the Texans and Bills, the sportsbook run by PENN National decided to offer huge boosts to the customer at nearly no limit.
On Saturday, they boosted the Ravens from -9.5 (-110) to +110, with limits as high as $1.19 million.
That marked an unprecedented number for a boosted line against the spread, which gave bettors a nearly six percent edge compared to other books.
ESPN BET was likely uncomfortable with the amount of liability it had on the Houston Texans, who were anywhere between +300 and +370 on the moneyline coming into Saturday’s divisional-round matchup.
The origins of the suspected heavy action remains unknown, as ESPN BET declined comment.
While some wondered if whale bettor Mattress Mack played a role in this boost, ESPN’s Dave Purdum reported via X that the infamous bettor did not wager with ESPN BET.
His $500,000 Texans action was placed at Caesars Sportsbook.
Still, the results of the boost were a disaster as the Ravens easily covered the spread in a 34-10 victory.
4Lamar Jackson dominated the Texans on Saturday. Getty ImagesThe same goes for Sunday when ESPN BET doubled down, offering a similar boost to the Chiefs’ moneyline, from +130 to +150.
The Chiefs would also go on to win outright, cashing both odds boosts for bettors, and ESPN BET pays out massive amounts of money on its extravagant boosts.
The unorthodox technique to boost the opposite side of their liability seems like it could be a good idea, but bettors pounced on the money-making opportunity.
4Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs upset the Bills on Sunday. Getty ImagesAs a result of this position, the @ESPNBet trading team made an interesting moveThey decided to BOOST:Ravens -9.5 to +110Ravens -10.5 to +140. Boosts are a normal part of sportsbook operations, however, these boost had NO LIMIT. Users can bet up to $2.5m on each of
— Jake Benzaquen (@jakebenzaq) January 20, 2024Typically, sportsbooks post limits on boosts anywhere between $10 and $100, with the limits varying by customer. Many bettors still reported massive bets on the Chiefs +150 with the boost.
FanDuel Sportsbook posted the Chiefs at +124 to open the week, while ESPN BET boosted the Chiefs to +150, a 4.64 percent edge on those lines.
4A payout of $2.5 million was the max for these wild ESPN BET odds boosts. 
4A screengrab of ESPN BET offering a $2.5 million max payout for Ravens -9.5. In an added twist, bettors were able to make this endeavor risk-free thanks to some fancy footwork involving a third party.
Exchange betting platforms Prophet Exchange and Sporttrade quickly began telling their customers to bet on the Chiefs +150 on ESPN BET and then hedge in the opposite direction on their platform with the Bills -140.
Liked KC ML +135 ish anyway, guess Im really going to like 15K limits on KC +150 https://t.co/kMF0nWtEtJpic.twitter.com/MoD1iCBfKD
— Hitman (@Hitman428) January 21, 2024The bettor you see above, @Hitman428, wagered $15,000 on the Chiefs +150 at boosted odds.
From there, all he would need to do is bet $21,000 (Bills ML -140) on Prophet Exchange to cover the 15,000 bet on the Chiefs +150.
Now he cannot lose, and the Chiefs, who won at +150, just locked him into $1,500 of profit that ESPN BET pays out.
And this scale was even more significant when looking at the Texans-Ravens, as ESPN BET posted much higher limits on Ravens -9.5 +110.
“We can’t stop taking $25K-$50K bets on the Texans right now,” Prophet Exchange co-founder Jake Benzaquen said prior to Saturday’s game, according to Vegas Insider.
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Prophet Exchange told The Post that two $50,000 bets were taken on the platform on Texans +9.5 as a direct result of ESPN BET’s odds boost, and the entire $100,000 was matched on the other end, completing the hedge and locking in profit.
Sporttrade CEO Alex Kane told The Post that one bettor bought $40,000 worth of Texans +9.5 at +100 as they hedged off the Ravens -9.5 (+110).
If this bettor got down $40,000 on the Ravens -9.5 on ESPN BET and hedged with Texans -9.5 (+100), they would’ve profited $4,400 risk-free.
“It was the biggest game in company history by two times,” Kane told The Post. “Saturday was our largest volume day ever by about a 15% margin.”
Prophet Exchange reported a similar seven-figure volume as bettors looked to hedge their massive boosted volume on ESPN BET.
Typically, the Super Bowl is the biggest sports betting day of the year.
But thanks to ESPN BET, lightning struck for the betting exchanges and customers cashed in huge.
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