Harbaugh's decision costs 49ers bettors money...

Trailing 13-6 with less than a minute to play and facing a fourth-and-17 from their own four-yard line, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson completed a 16-yard pass to wideout Ben Obamanu. But the officials called a chop block on Seattle that occurred in the end zone and resulted in a safety, giving San Francisco a 15-6 lead and bettors a backdoor cover. That is, if Harbaugh would have accepted the penalty. But he didn’t.

Right now, the sportsbooks love Jim Harbaugh. Bettors, on the other hand, may have slightly different feelings.
Rather than take a nine-point lead and risk an onsides kick recovery by the Seahawks, the 49ers coach opted for a seven-point lead and the ball on the Seattle 20-yard line.

“Although it was at San Francisco -7 for a good portion of the week, most bets we took were at -7.5 and -8,” Dave Mason of offshore sportsbook BetOnline.com told the National Football Post Thursday night. “So Harbaugh was definitely looking out for the house by taking points off the board, considering about 65% of the action we booked was on the 49ers.”

San Francisco bettors were understandably irate, but Harbaugh made the correct decision. Sure, he’s only up seven points instead of nine, but he’s got the ball and is facing an opponent that is bankrupt in the timeouts department. Two kneel downs and the game is over, with virtually no risk.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/49ers-safety-bets-las-vegas-jim-harbaugh_n_1984125.html?utm_hp_ref=sports

When Harbaugh declined the safety, at first I actually considered the possibility he was screwing with Pete Carroll again. More I thought about it though, the more I realized it was the correct decision...screw the bettors.