- Online sportsbooks can lose money on the NFL Draft.
- Trevor Lawrence’s odds at being selected first overall are at -100000.
CLEVELAND—NFL bettors can finally take a sigh of relief as there are football odds to take advantage of with the NFL Draft just hours away. However, it is not all fun and games from an oddsmaker's perspective as this is the NFL event of the year that can absolutely break a sportsbook.
The reason behind online sportsbooks dreading NFL Draft odds is because of how much money could potentially be lost at the hands of different prop bets.
Back in 2018, sportsbooks learned this the hard way with betting lines for which player will be drafted first between Josh Rosen and Saquon Barkley where Rosen opened up as the heavy favorite before his odds quickly shifted after bettors laid action on Barkley. Those that watched the 2018 draft and took Barkley first saw their bets cash which left sportsbooks in shock.
“We just refused to believe that an NFL team would draft a running back with the second overall pick—The Giants didn't have a quarterback then either, which, to us, made it more ridiculous that they would take a running back second overall,” said executive director of the SuperBook, John Murray.
Something that bookmakers have done to try and prevent this from happening again is not opening the lines until a week or so before the draft is set to take place. This is to prevent people from laying action on the longer odds before they potentially shift.
“Your best chance to win anything is to open them up a week or so in advance at the most and get lucky,” said Rex Beyer of SuperBook to ESPN.
Big Bonuses And Promos For The NFL Draft
However, aside from potentially losing money on draft day, some online sportsbooks offer promotions in order to gain new customers. Looking at FanDuel as an example, they are offering their bettors 20-1 odds when betting on Trevor Lawrence to go first overall.
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Note, they are using this as a tactic just to get new bettors to register, but with 20-1 odds on Lawrence going first overall, is not something that bettors want to pass up as a $5 bet could turn into $100.
Another example of a bonus that is being offered is at BetMGM where they are offering their bettors a $20 bet to win $100 on any NFL Draft bet that is placed no matter what the odds are. This is a good chance for bettors to bet on Lawrence going first overall again.
Guaranteed NFL Draft Odds To Hit
Looking at the 2021 NFL Draft, there are still chances for bettors to make easy money no matter what the profit is. Bovada is still offering prop bets on who will be drafted with the first and second overall pick in the first round with Trevor Lawrence sitting at -100000 odds to be taken first and Zach Wilson with -8000 odds to be taken second. These odds are sure to cash as it has been made clear by many league sources that both the Jaguars and Jets are sure with their decisions.
There are other prop bets like how many positional players will be drafted in the first round where the total for tight ends is set at 1.5 with the Under favored at -800 odds. Many bettors know that Kyle Pitts is the only tight end that will be drafted in the first round being that no other player at his position can even compare to what he has done.
Knowing this, bettors can risk any amount of money on these props and expect them to return and increase their bankroll. Bettors watch on for easy money on Thursday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m. EST on ESPN, NFL Network, ABC, and more.
Samuel decided to get into writing 6 years ago when he first started his college career at Florida State University. After declaring a major in Editing, Writing and Media, Samuel had found his passion for writing. During his free time, he could be found writing about, watching or playing sports.
