Bookies Paying Out Phillies "Win"

Nevada bookmakers are paying out Monday night's suspended game 5 of World Series baseball as if the Philadelphia Phillies had won it.

With the score tied at two apiece midway through the sixth inning, the game was suspended due to rain - leaving hundreds of millions of baseball fans having to hold their breath till Wednesday to find out if the Phillies can clinch just their second-ever championship.

But according to Nevada gaming rules, the final score of an official game is the score at the end of the last completed inning. As the Rays had drawn level at the top of the sixth inning when Carlos Pena's two-out single scored B.J. Upton, this means that the Phillies - who led 2-1 at the end of the fifth - are considered victors for the purpose of betting payouts.

Some bets, such as those on totals and run-line bets, are being refunded because according to the rules at least eight-and-a-half innings must be played.

There is sure to be a large outcry from some betters, but the bookmakers are sticking to their position.

"We're just following the regular baseball rules. This is a very common rule," Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. "We can't make exceptions.

It is seemingly the first time, however, that such a rule has been applied to an event as major as Major League Baseball's World Series.