A late touchdown in the college football national title game saw millions of dollars flip hands, with an extremely profitable outcome for William Hill.
Falling on the wrong side of a backdoor cover can be devastating for the gambler. The word ‘backdoor cover’ is used in sports betting to describe an event late in a game which enables the underdog to cover the point spread.
This is exactly what happened on Monday night’s college football national title game, as Jordan Leggett pulled in a 25-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson with just 12 seconds to go.
Clemson Tigers still didn’t win the game, which took place in Arizona, but the touchdown certainly left those who backed Alabama feeling a harsh loss. Indeed, most sports books and the large majority of punters had favoured Alabama by 6 ½ points.
Alabama had to beat the Tigers by 7+ to cover the spread. And with 1:07 to go, gamblers saw them move into 45-33 lead, only to concede just six plays and 55 seconds later.
65% of all tickets and 78% of all money wagered at William Hill’s US Sportsbook’s was on Alabama -6.5, leaving many gamblers feeling more than a little frustrated.