Six months ago PointsBet came into the New Jersey sportsbook industry from Australia with its flags flying high
Its promotions and early pay-outs quickly caught the eye. So too did its give-back policy on bets with controversial or incorrect outcomes.
Its betting markets also included a wager unique in the USA called points betting a la its sportsbook name. It’s a type of wager that can make you rich very quickly.
However, it can also put you in the poorhouse if you aren’t very careful.
For some reason, the points bet wagers hardly raised an eyebrow Not much was said about it and nobody was reported to have won any large sums.
Punters win big to start NFL season
Until now – and this comes at the start of the centennial season of America’s favorite pro sport.
In Sunday’s Week-One round of NFL matches, one PointsBet punter came away $600,000 richer. Another took home $169,100. They contributed heavily toward PointsBet losing a million dollars, but it also put the New Jersey sportsbook back in the news headlines.
The $600,000 winner did the trick by backing Baltimore Ravens to beat struggling Miami Dolphins at $30,000 a point. The other won his $169,100 by putting $17,800 a point on Kansas City Chiefs beating Jacksonville Jaguars.
PointsBet CEO Johnny Aitken admitted that PointsBet losses in the NFL’s first week were around the million-dollar mark. “Yes, we lost a lot of money on points betting this weekend,” he told Action Network.
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$1m loss could have a positive side
Points betting which currently brings in 10% of PointsBet’s business, will take time to be fully embraced by Americans. And PointsBet understands this, Aitken says.
In these circumstances, the Sportsbook’s losses on Sunday could have a positive side in highlighting what points betting can do.
“We think this product will be stronger in markets where people are used to trading derivatives, like in New York on Wall Street and in Chicago (the Chicago Mercantile Exchange),”
Discussing the risk factors that face his company in this type of wagering, he said: “This Company was founded with US sports in mind. I believe our risk guys are the
best in the game.”
Points betting is spread betting with a difference – a big difference. To help those still to make their acquaintance with sports betting here’s how it works.
Punters must first decide on how much they are prepared to bet per point under or over the match result. Next they must choose the maximum amount they are
willing to put at risk via the point multiple they select.
Ravens won by 49 points
The Ravens winner, for example, opted to put his risk stop at 20 times his $30,000 per point stake. The Ravens won by 49 points but because he’d put that stopper
on the bet, he got out $600,000 ($30,000 x 20)
Had he risked not using the stopper, Raven’s crushing 59-10 victory would have given him $1.47m. Finally, we should point out that an identical bet on the
Dolphins would have cost him $600,000.
The Chiefs winner did risk betting without a stopper. He wagered $17,800 per point on the Chiefs who won 40-26. That gave him a 14-points margin and earned
him $169,100
“Some bettors are OK with doubling their money if they are right about a team winning by a certain margin,” Aitken said. “Our model allows you to make a lot
more money depending on how right you are.” This brings us to PointsBet’s slogan for points betting. It goes, “The more you’re right, the more you win. The more you’re wrong the more you lose.”
