Stevens Wagers $12,500 on Wolverines

Sportsbooks would love nothing more than balanced books, where they stand to make money regardless who wins. But it seldom works out that way. It certainly hasn’t for the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, as casino owner Derek Stevens has a $12,500 bet on the Michigan Wolverines. If Michigan shocks the world, Stevens is up a cool $1 million. If they lose, the Golden Nugget can breathe a sigh of relief and Stevens won’t notice the money is missing.

Stevens posted his ticket on Twitter after Michigan defeated Louisville, which is similar to what Floyd Mayweather would do. Of all the pictures of betting tickets he posted, only a few were losers. Most were winners and any sportsbook executive in Las Vegas will tell you that “Money” isn’t all that all that great in the sportsbooks. But when you make the kind of money he has, it doesn’t matter all that much.

Michigan was a small underdog to Louisville today no matter what the “experts” proclaim. Seeing a 3-point underdog win a game outright isn’t that unusual. Certainly not the “shocker” and “upset” the pundits are proclaiming.

Stevens still has a ways to go before he can make plans on how to spend his money. The winner of Oregon and Rhode Island awaits the Wolverines and should they get by in that one, it doesn’t get any easier. A date with Kansas is the most likely game, but it’s called March Madness for a reason.

It may be a bit early for Stevens to start hedging his bet each time the Wolverines play, but he does have that option available to him. He may want to wait another game and see the results of the other games. If things fall his way, a few upsets will take place and weaken the field a bit.