The controversial 2016 Rio Summer Olympics are officially in the books, but the recreations publications in Nevada had interest that is little their result. For the first time since the Sydney Games in 2000, sports betting was permitted in the Silver State for this year’s 16 days of competition, but evidently, bettors were less than excited about their options.

Action was slower than slow, according to those who just take wagers in vegas’ biggest gambling enterprises. Perhaps some of the lesser known events simply don’t jibe with the conventional sports that are american. From badminton and canoe slalom, to rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming, Las Vegas sports books lined up the odds, but few took them.

‘We probably have actually taken about as much in Olympic wagers as we would on a baseball that is big, regular season,’ Mirage oddsmaker Jay Rood said this month.

The disappointing, yet not completely unanticipated Olympics for Nevada casinos might cause less passion for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea because well. It was no effortless feat for oddsmakers to prepare lines for a host of athletic disciplines most were utterly unfamiliar with.

Big Bets, Little Pay

Even the casual sports fan knows the name Michael Phelps, while the many decorated Olympian ever lived up to their hype. Phelps won five of this six events he competed in and departed his olympics that are final a total of 23 gold medals.

And for bettors in the Silver State, the relative lines on Phelps were almost off the chart.

At Bovada, Phelps had been a -300 favorite into the butterfly that is 100m and his 4x200m freestyle relay team needed a $700 bet to win $100.

As crazy as that noises, it was a good bet, as Ledecky cruised to a world-record time and beat the silver medalist by nearly 12 moments.

Team USA basketball gents and ladies also wowed bookies in Nevada. The guys were -2500 favorites and the women were listed at -1400. Both won their tournaments.

Overall, Team USA won the medal count that is highest of all participants with 121 total gold, silver, and bronze. Asia put second with 70, and Great Britain third at 67.

Host nation Brazil won 19 total medals, and garnered plenty of criticism as well. Inadequate housing, contaminated water, crime, and last but not least, Zika, all plagued the lead-up to the competition.

Lochte and Loaded

The games had been definitely not without scandal before US swimmer Ryan Lochte took center phase, with incidents of rape and robbery being reported in the 1st days that are few. But Lochte’s actions overshadowed a lot of the final few days of the Games, in what athletes that are many have considered a cloud over their moment in the sunlight.

In what would later on be a fable concocted by the 12-time medal winner, Lochte’s tale about being robbed at gunpoint almost totally took over the last times of the Olympics.

‘I over-exaggerated that story,’ Lochte told NBC within the week-end. ‘They place on a games which are great . . [but] my behavior that is immature tarnished a little, and I don’t desire that.’

His mea culpas may too have come late, nonetheless. Speedo terminated its sponsorship on Monday, amid Lochte’s late-out-of-the-gate admission that he had way too much to drink that night and made bad choices because from it. It’s unclear whether his other backers, including Gillette, Gatorade, and AT&T, will do the same.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will probably not be rushing back to a developing nation anytime soon again, but however, left the nation on a positive note.

‘We found its way to Brazil as guests. Today we depart as your friends,’ IOC President Thomas Back said during the closing ceremony.