Bettors lose on Coach Harbaugh declined safety

Add 'everyone is out to get NFL bettors in 2012' to the list of conspiracy theories after yet another strange turn of events took money out of the hands of San Francisco 49er backers Thursday night.

From OddsShark.com this morning:

"Clinging to a seven-point lead, Harbaugh elected to decline a chop block penalty on the Seahawks that occured on fourth down in the end zone and would have resulted in a safety, putting the 49ers up 15-6. By declining the penalty, the 49ers took over deep inside Seattle territory and simply kneeled down to secure the win.

It was the right football decision, but a tough pill to swallow for 49ers' backers. Meanwhile, Seahawks' bettors are loving life, after also benefitting from the bad call in the Monday night win over the Green Bay Packers."

Since accepting the penalty would have meant a 9-point victory (covering the 8 point spread), 49er fans have lots of reason to be angry with that decision, even if it did ensure the team won the game.

Declining meant a 7-point margin of victory and a win at the sportsbook window for Seattle bettors.

"It seems controversy has been the theme in the NFL this season when it comes to betting on it and last night once again a call at the end of the game affected the point spread directly," said Kevin Bradley of Bovada sportsbook. "Safety or no safety was not a huge swing for the book either way."

Oddsmaker Mike Perry said it was a much different story at Sportsbook.ag.

"Seventy-five percent of the money was on the 49ers. So Harbaugh’s decision against the safety was huge."