Sports gambling New Jersey style has put PointsBet at risk once again. On Wednesday they announced they would make a second early wager payout on an MWP award weeks ahead of the result.
Last year they did it when they paid out on Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray winning the Heisman Trophy. It was a gamble that paid off. The Heisman favorite did win.
This year, they’ve singled out Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Raven’s new standout quarterback. The bet is on him winning the NFL MVP award for the regular season. And heading into Week 12, the season still has six weeks to run.
“We’ve really enjoyed watching Lamar make the impossible look easy every Sunday,” PointsBet CEO Johnny Aitken said in the announcement.
“Considering some of his recent performances and looking ahead at the Ravens’ remaining schedule, one thing is pretty clear. Lamar is simply a freight train that won’t be stopped.”
Lamar ‘steaming towards NFL MVP honors’
“He is steaming toward well-deserved NFL MVP honors as he racks up the yards and rewrites the record books. He’s also redefining the quarterback position,” Aitken enthused.
“Given that, we think it’s only fair to reward all of our clients who had the foresight to place their bets on the right long shot.”
A long-shot Jackson certainly was at the start of the season. This was when his college heroics were being overlooked and the Ravens were underrated. You could have got odds of 100/1 on him winning the MVP – and a lucky few did.
After his battle to move the offense in a wild-card playoff loss to the Chargers in January not too many saw him as a rising star.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, however, spotted something special and had Jackson working on his passing mechanics in the off-season. He then switched him with veteran quarterback Joe Flacco and everything changed
Since then Jackson has been responsible for 25 touchdowns, 19 from passes, six from rushes. He has completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 2,258 yards with five interceptions. So yes, he is no longer seen only as a rusher. Now he is the complete quarter-back and the Ravens are flying.
On Sunday Jackson had four TD passes
On Sunday Jackson passed for 222 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 86 yards for another. It saw Baltimore demolish the Texans, 41-7 and go to 8-2. It also elevated both Jackson and Baltimore with the New Jersey sportsbooks.
A week or so ago Jackson was their second choice +220 to win MVP. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was tops at that time at +180.
Right now, however, it’s 22-year Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner, who is the unanimous favorite of New Jersey’s 18 sportsbooks. He tops their list at around +150 with Wilson at +180 and Aaron Rodgers and Deshuaun Watson at a distanced +750 and +800 respectively.
Ravens are also on the move. At t+500 they are now second favorites to win the Super Bowl behind the Patriots (+275). New Orleans Saints are next at +600 and San Francisco 49ers follows them at +700.
Early payouts have not always paid off for PointsBet, a product of Australia with plenty of Aussie pluck. However, with the way Jackson is going right now, their chance of pulling off this one is good.