Ah, the Super Bowl, it’s that time of the year again. Where we sit on our couches to watch some half-time show, some commercials, and oh yes, the game! These defining-era Patriots with Tom Brady and Bill Bellicheck come back for more after Deflategate. This year they face the most underrated QB in the NFL; Matt Ryan, and the Atlanta Falcons.

But even before the game starts, a key moment in the game may affect Costa Rica. Albeit indirectly, The betting site Bookmaker.eu has Central American roots. The coin toss at the Super Bowl has a prop going on at the booking website. After the bet started taking wages, things got out of hand because of a lack of research.

What was the bet you ask? It’s the coin toss that gives the visiting team the chance to call the flip. At the Super Bowl, there’s no home or visiting team. However, the NFL chose the Patriots as designated visitors. Now, what the guys at Bookmaker.eu overlooked was the fact that Belichick’s team always call heads. A spokesman for the site, Scott Cooley told The New York Times that they didn’t put a lot of thought into it this year.

The Super Bowl prop that shouldn’t have been

Bookmaker.eu gives recommendations to its users, like making well-thought bets. Their page on NFL says: “When placing a wager, do your homework. Betting isn’t for suckers and nobody is paying you to lose games. So do yourself a favor and study, and actually handicap the games.” It seems like they forgot about doing homework themselves.

After this happened, bettors – who actually studied beforehand – took advantage of the prop. At first, the website altered a bit the proposition, but users still betted on the Pats choosing heads. This lead the site into not receiving any more wagers for a while. When Bookmaker opened the prop again, it made the heads call for the Patriots a 6-1 bet. That means that for every $60 bet you make, you’d get $10 if you win.

Cooley admitted that they neglected the prop. Before big events, even the most unheard of props take wagers. There are a couple of Bookmaker props involving Lady Gaga’s halftime show at the Super Bowl. One proposition states that Gaga’s costume could malfunction, the other one that she’d mention Donald Trump. Cooley acknowledges that in the more gimmicky props, Bookmaker is as clueless as the general public.

But it turns out that the Patriots have chosen heads in every coin toss for the last two years. This lack of thoroughness can cost the Costa Rican betting site “in the low five figures”, Cooley says. In any case, the losses may look minimal as earnings are calculated on millions, according to the spokesman. Thanks to the betting limits – Bookmakers go between $1000 and $2000 – incidents like this shouldn’t mean much.

What do we learn from this?

The Superbowl day is like an unofficial national holiday, so this Sunday just watch the game. Whether if you like the commercials at halftime or Gaga’s show or even the game itself. Remember that someone wins and the other one loses, and if you’re into betting, do your homework first. A well-founded bet is never a bad one, it’s only bad if you put it on gut feeling alone.

Also, Sunday’s game is so big right now that it’s a worldwide event. It affects people in the entire globe, Bookmaker’s case is just a mere example. On the Super Bowl alone, wagers bet over $130 million online. It gives a perspective of how much money is on the line and how mere entertainment can make the earth stand still for three hours.