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On Friday, a coin will be flipped to determine whether the Oakland Raiders or the San Francisco 49ers will be given the ninth pick in this year’s NFL Draft. Both teams finished the season with a 6-10 record, and while the better spot would traditionally go to the team who played the opponents with the highest collective winning percentage, the two squads tied on the tiebreaker and will have to resort to the Anton Chigurh method of conflict resolution.
Much to my surprise, the “tails never fails” strategy isn’t supported by any scientific data I could find, so each team theoretically has the same chance of winning the toss (unless the coin manages to land on its side, in which case the winner is whoever is able to shove the coin up the nose of their competitor first). However, a sportsbook has decided to throw things like “math” and “logic” to the wind by making the Raiders -130 favorites to come away with the better pick on Friday.
According to Yahoo Sports, there is some reasoning behind this total lack of reasoning. The website explained the betting line in a statement, saying:
“With the Raiders eventually relocating to Las Vegas, we thought Lady Luck might favor the Silver and Black one more time while in the Bay Area. Plus, Jon Gruden is a combine junkie, and he knows which way the wind blows in that dome.”
If you’re looking to cement your status as a true degenerate gambler by wagering on the results of a coin toss for mid-round NFL draft pick, it’s worth noting the 49ers are still listed at even odds.