Hitting a longshot is the dream of nearly every recreational sports bettor. How else to explain the popularity of single-game parlays and every other one-in-a-million (not literally, but kinda) bet people lay down?
Well, a pair of researchers — one at the University of Pennsylvania and the other at New York University — recently published a paper that helps explain why even the most level-headed bettors sometimes like hitting “place bet” with a five-digit or more number prefaced by a “+” sign, and the answer lies somewhere in between the fine line of psychology and how we deal with numbers.
In short: Bettors are more likely to bet longshots when the odds are displayed in proximity to other, more reasonable odds. When longshots are displayed all by their lonesome, bettors are less likely to try and shoot the moon.
Green Bean?? HR PARLAY???? pic.twitter.com/oN6repBBx9