On Saturday, a nightmare scenario played out for sportsbooks -- and people who wagered on a certain game. A college basketball contest between Illinois State and Chicago State drew a lot of attention, but not exactly for the right reasons.
Late in the game, a single made free throw, courtesy of Illinois State's Josiah Strong, wasn't reflected in the final score. So, as a result of the scoring error, sportsbooks were sent into a frenzy.
That's because the single point made a world of difference to bettors.
Illinois State managed to come away with an 80-71 victory. But some sportsbooks, including Caesars Sportsbook, had the Redbirds as a 9.5-point favorite, so not counting the single point from that free throw would've resulted in a loss for many that bet on Illinois State at a 9.5-point spread.
Strong took to Twitter to joke about the situation (he wants that point on his scoresheet!):
😭they tried to finnese https://t.co/xLGrx6Wv9a
— Josiah Strong (@jbuckets5) December 13, 2021
While Caesars Sportsbook took to social media to announce that they were paying out the bets of both sides of the spread due to the scoring error.
The final score in Saturday’s Chicago State vs Illinois State College Basketball Game was incorrectly listed as 80-71 Illinois State, when it should have been 81-71.
— Caesars Sportsbook (@CaesarsSports) December 13, 2021
With the spread at #CaesarsSportsbook listed at 9.5, Caesar has decided to pay out both outcomes.
If you watch that first video, Strong clearly makes both free throws, but only one of them is credited towards the official score of the game. But the teams continued to play and the game ended before the score was able to be adjusted.
The team websites for both Illinois State and Chicago State have the final score of the game as 81- 71 now.
