| In the murky history of sports betting it is
hard to establish who invented what first. Due to the lack of other
claimants, the credit for originating betting totals goes to a fellow
named Bill Dark. Dark was the sportsbook and race manager for Del
Mar sportsbook in Las Vegas, a betting parlor which is no longer
in operation.
The story goes like this. On April 18th 1964, the Dodgers and Reds
squared off it what appeared to be a classic pairing of starting
pitchers. The Dodgers starter was a guy most of you have heard of
Sandy Koufax, while the Reds sent a quality pitcher Jim Maloney
to the hill. Just the season before these 2 studs respectfully had
combined for 48 victories and 17 shutouts total. Near the start
of the game, a fan asked Bill Dark what are the odds of this game
ending in a 0-0 shutout. As Bill Dark tells this story, he considered
the proposition and then rephrased it. “Its three and a half
runs. I will give you 11 to 10 odds and you take your pick on which
side you want.”
The fan measured the options and than decided to bet the game under
3.5 runs. To his delight Cincinnati won the game 3-0 thus making
his under 3.5 bet a winner.
Dark said that he was instantly pleased with the notion that there
was an additional proposition that would generate two way action.
He began offering betting totals on televised baseball events only
and than the concept was quickly expanded to other sports and would
eventually become a staple of betting menus as it is today.
These days just about every major sportsbook offers totals on sports,
and to think without Mr. Dark and a fellow baseball bettor you may
have never heard anyone say “do you like the over or the under
tonight?”
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