The superfight is on and the early money has come in on Conor McGregor.
While somewhat surprising, given that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the overwhelming favorite, most bettors have put their money on Conor McGregor to win.
According to David Purdum of ESPN, the Westgate casino in Las Vegas has reported that a staggering 90% of the bets on the fight are on McGregor. This phenomenon has caused odds-makers to raise McGregor’s odds from 11/1 up to 6/1.
The opening odds had Mayweather favored at 1/8.
Just because most of the bets have gone McGregor’s way, it doesn’t mean that most of the money has. The bets on Mayweather have been far larger wagers than those for McGregor.
According to ESPN, “At Caesars Palace sportsbooks, 140 of the first 144 bets were on McGregor, who was paying back around 5-1. Almost all of the early action was small and placed by recreational bettors. One sportsbook manager described it as “square-a-palooza.””
The way the phenomenon works is that the more people that bet on McGregor, the better his odds become. This helps Mayweather bettors because the increased McGregor odds leads to an increased payout.
Unless of course Mayweather loses, then everything becomes very, very bad.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn
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