On Saturday, February 22, I made the worst bet of 2020. I fell into the reactionary, overvalued live money line that Vegas was begging suckers to take. Plus, in a sport that I do not bet day-to-day or dive into the analytics of. Everyone knows the story of David Ayres by now, and the pain comes back every time another article is posted or he’s being interviewed by another media outlet. The zamboni driver, who brought joy to everyone but Toronto and myself, made me question my sanity Saturday night.

Scrolling through Twitter, I saw that both goalies were injured, and the emergency backup was entering for Carolina. At first, I didn’t think to live bet, but found it amusing that Ayres was wearing a Leafs helmet and gear in a Canes jersey. A few minutes later after the Ayres lets up two quick goals to cut the deficit to one, it clicks. Fired up a live money line on Toronto and it was available at -125, so I took the bait. Trailing by one and being a slight favorite in the second period, there was no value in backing the Leafs, for an amount that is over six times my normal hockey unit.

After placing the bet, I pulled up a stream on my laptop and was locked in. For the next 24 minutes, the Hurricanes dominated the Leafs, scoring three goals and holding them scoreless. Each goal took more and more out of me, slowly becoming angrier at myself. Once the game ended, the restlessness sunk in and knew I couldn’t sit around. So, I ended up going for an hour long walk at 35 degrees at 10:15 p.m. Ayres had just won his first NHL game at 42 years old and I was bundling myself up. It was not as cold as I expected, but that may have been from my blood boiling on the inside.

Every bettor falls into these traps sometimes and it’s important not to overreact and chase. Take it as a learning experience and remember not to let the moment get the best of you. But you can all drag me through the mud for this stupid bet I made, I deserve it. To anyone else who bet the Leafs live, you’re not the only one. At least I’m not a Leafs fan.

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