Polamalu's touchdown-that-wasn't rocked Vegas.

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"We just ruined someone's unlimited brunch buffet."
"Yes, Norv. Yes we did."

[Ed's note: Magazine senior deputy editor Chad Millman wrote a book called The Odds, about gambling culture. He also oversees The Mag's coverage of sports gambling, among other subjects. In a new feature for The Mag.com, he will take a look at the lives behind those making sport's biggest bets.]

Oooh, if you had the Steelers to cover the 4.5-point spread last night—and nearly 70% of Pigskin Pick 'Em-pickers did—that one's gonna leave a mark. No other way to say it, you suffered a bad beat. It happens. Think of it as a deposit in the karma bank.

I was at the office last night closing The Mag. After the Steelers went ahead 11-10, and I was convinced my Chargers dog pick was safe, I put the game on mute and waited for Obama on 60 Minutes. Then five people in the cubicles around me started screaming, "Cover! Cover! Cover!" like they were doing a Tropic Thunder remake. (If you need the game's play-by-play, click here. But if you need it, this ain't the column for you.) Then I looked up and saw Troy Polamalu somersaulting through the end zone for a no-freaking-way-I-can't-believe-this-just-happened Steelers cover.

Around the world, according to RJ Bell of the betting info site Pregame.com, there was $100 million worth of bets on that game. And $66 million of it was happily about to be cashed in for the Steelers. At the Orleans in Vegas, my bookmaking buddy Scooch said the bets were 4-1 in favor of the Steelers. Polamalu's touchdown was a swing worth hundreds of thousands against him at his book alone.

But all I could think was, WTF, another bad beat.

It happens. Last week, a reader named Brian from New York emailed me about the time years ago when the Lions, ahead with two minutes to play, needed a touchdown to cover the spread. Barry Sanders took a handoff on his own 20 and broke one for, you guessed it, 79 yards before being tackled. Detroit took a knee at the one. Game over. Brian cursed them. Soon after Matt Millen took over and, well, clearly you just don't mess with Brian.

Bad beats aren't just football's domain, either. Remember Robin Ventura's Grand Slam Single for the Mets in the 1999 NLCS against the Braves. The game was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 15th. Ventura came up with the bases loaded and deposited a 2-1 pitch into the seats. The over-under was 7.5 runs, and in the Vegas sportsbooks there was pure pandemonium. Then utter confusion. Because before Ventura reached second base he was mobbed by his teammates. The game ended with him underneath a pile. Baseball credited him with the longest single in major league history and ruled it a 4-3 final. Bookmakers paid out the under.

There is a flipside. I was in Vegas the weekend the Titans beat the Bills in the Music City Miracle. I hung with a genius wiseguy named Alan Boston who still makes big bucks betting upwards of five figures a game on college baskets. But he dabbles in pro pigskin, too. And that day he had, and I quote, "bet to my balls" on the Titans at minus-4. We were at breakfast and, as always, the frenetic Boston was checking his pager constantly. With 16 seconds left in the game he noticed the Bills were up 16-15. "I knew that game had a rat," he said and we left the restaurant. As we neared his corvette, Boston's cell rang, and from the other side of the car I could hear his buddy screaming. "We won the game, we won the game!" Actually, the Titans won, thanks to Frank Wycheck's cross-field lateral and Kevin Dyson's touchdown run. After a ref conference, it was official. Final score: Titans 21, Bills 16. Your bad beat is always someone else's good win.

Like the refs in Bills-Titans, the Steelers-Chargers crew also had some sorting out to do. There was a flag on Polamalu's eventual touchdown. Turns out the zebras decided one of the Chargers multiple, last-gasp laterals was an illegal forward pass (doesn't look that way on replay, fellas). At first they allowed the touchdown to stand. Then, just as Jeff Reed was about to kick the PAT, the ref stopped the play. Another conference. Another announcement. Turns out the refs called the play dead at the time of the penalty—and took Polamalu's derring-do TD dash off the board. Final score, 11-10 Steelers. At the Orleans, it was mass chaos. "I had people calling me after the game asking how they could cash in Steelers tickets they had ripped up because they didn't know the refs had overturned the score," says Scooch. "When I told them the actual final score, they just yelled, 'It's all fixed!' And then hung up."

There's a lot of conspiracy theory-talk being bandied about online today. Doesn't help that, after the game, the official, Scott Green, admitted there was confusion amongst officials on that final play. Turns out, he said, Polamalu's touchdown should have counted. Woops. That won't help Steelers fans recoup their losses.

But it might improve their karma.

Bet you've got a great gambling story. Email Chad.

MORE ON CHARGERS-STEELERS:

• AFC North Blog: Playoff implications? Likely none
• NFC West Blog: Referee's replay record
• Mike & Mike react on ESPN Radio
• NFL VP of officiating Mike Pereira reacts
• The fans weigh in

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