The House Always Wins

Sportsbooks won big on Dustin Poirier’s Saturday night upset by second-round TKO. 

Conor McGregor was a consensus favorite heading into the UFC 257 main event. As the majority of money flowed in on the Notorious One, his price rose from -190 to -310 at BetMGM. 

Poirier was around a +270 underdog and +650 to win via knockout. Only 8% of the money at DraftKings was on Poirier when the fight started.

A “Yes” bet on a McGregor win in a minute or less received 95% of tickets and 99% of money. Just 1% of round prop betting was on a Poirier win in Round 2.

“It was a massive win for us,” a PointsBet spokesman told Darren Rovell. “About as big a single event win as you see.” The company added that it had zero big bets on Poirier.

Biggest wins of the night, per Rovell:

• A $200,000 bet on Poirier at William Hill netted $540,000
• A $100,000 bet on Poirier at BetMGM netted $270,000

Biggest losses:

• $209,500 bet at BetMGM on McGregor
• $188,000 bet at FanFuel on McGregor

McGregor, even in defeat, will bank $5 million in salary off the fight. His cut of the projected 1.5 million pay-per-view sales will lift his earnings to an estimated $20 million

Poirier netted a career-high $1 million purse, plus his cut of PPVs, and a $50,000 bonus for winning.