You Can't Tell Me This Wasn't Rigged

[silverscreenselect]

A Michigan man won a million dollars in a contest sponsored by the app FourPlay Football, by picking four games a week during the NFL season correctly against the spread, along with every playoff game, for a total of 81 games, culminating with the Patriots (although he needed an overtime touchdown to pull that one off).

Assuming that the odds of picking any one game are 50/50, the odds against picking 81 in a row are 1 in 604,462,909,807,314,587,353,088 or over 604 sextillion to 1. I'm willing to accept the fact that some people are better at this than others, but still, there's no way that could happen.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf ... /97550760/

[silverscreenselect]

A Michigan man won a million dollars in a contest sponsored by the app FourPlay Football, by picking four games a week during the NFL season correctly against the spread, along with every playoff game, for a total of 81 games, culminating with the Patriots (although he needed an overtime touchdown to pull that one off).

Assuming that the odds of picking any one game are 50/50, the odds against picking 81 in a row are 1 in 604,462,909,807,314,587,353,088 or over 604 sextillion to 1. I'm willing to accept the fact that some people are better at this than others, but still, there's no way that could happen.

To put this in perspective, you are twice as likely to win the Powerball three times in a row with a single ticket each time as you are to pick 81 football games in a row against the spread.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf ... /97550760/

[Vandal]

On the other side...

$1.1 million wager placed on underdog Falcons

Sportsbook operator CG Technology, which took the $1.1 million bet on the Falcons +3 Friday, had slightly more money on Atlanta, even with 61 percent of the point spread bets being on the Patriots. A $200,000 bet on New England, also placed Friday, helped even out the action, according to CG Technology vice president of risk Jason Simbal.

The million-dollar bettor, an account-based customer at CG Technology, risked $1.1 million to win $1 million on the Falcons covering the three points.

[silverscreenselect]

Well, the game was rigged, but they explained it on their website.

This site is a fantasy football league (or sorts) that operates four team teasers. Each week, each player in the league picks four games and gets 14 points per game. So, if New England is a 7 point pick over Miami and you pick Miami, you get 21 points. If you pick New England, you get seven points. To win each week, you have to pick all four games of your games correctly (ties count as losses). Each week, you move up or down in the standings in your league depending on how many winners and losers there were each week.

To win the million, you did have to pick every game correctly, BUT you got an extra 14 points per game, which makes your odds of winning any game considerably better than 50/50. The site estimated the chances of someone winning at 5 million to 1, which makes a million dollar promotional payout a fairly decent prize.

[silverscreenselect]

Well, the game was rigged, but they explained it on their website.

This site is a fantasy football league (of sorts) that operates four team teasers. Each week, each player in the league picks four games and gets 14 additional points per game over the spread. So, if New England is a 7 point pick over Miami and you pick Miami, you get 21 points. If you pick New England, you get seven points. To win each week, you have to pick all four games of your games correctly (ties count as losses). Each week, you move up or down in the standings in your league depending on how many winners and losers there were each week.

To win the million, you did have to pick every game correctly, BUT you got an extra 14 points per game, which makes your odds of winning any game considerably better than 50/50. The site estimated the chances of someone winning at 5 million to 1, which makes a million dollar promotional payout a fairly decent prize.

[Estonut]

Well, the game was rigged, but they explained it on their website.

This site is a fantasy football league (or sorts) that operates four team teasers. Each week, each player in the league picks four games and gets 14 points per game. So, if New England is a 7 point pick over Miami and you pick Miami, you get 21 points. If you pick New England, you get seven points. To win each week, you have to pick all four games of your games correctly (ties count as losses). Each week, you move up or down in the standings in your league depending on how many winners and losers there were each week.

To win the million, you did have to pick every game correctly, BUT you got an extra 14 points per game, which makes your odds of winning any game considerably better than 50/50. The site estimated the chances of someone winning at 5 million to 1, which makes a million dollar promotional payout a fairly decent prize.

How is it "rigged" when it went according to their rules?

[silverscreenselect]

How is it "rigged" when it went according to their rules?

It's rigged in the sense that each game is not a supposedly 50/50 proposition as the original USA Today article implied. If that were the case, than my original figure of 600 septillion to one would represent the odds of picking 81 games in a row. Obviously moving the spread 14 points in your favor improves your odds of winning any one game considerably, which makes winning 81 in a row several orders of magnitude easier.

In the contest run by the app FourPlay Football, participants had to make correct picks against the spread for four games every week of the regular season, as well as all for all of the postseason contests, according to The News.

That language certainly employs that it was a traditional spread pick and not a 14-point teaser.