I'm with Wilheim on this one.....if you don't want under money on 175 don't offer it.....
As far as one player hitting a middle....what's the difference if one person won the over 171 and another person won on under 175.....or if one player won on both....???
The book put itself in a position where a polish middle existed and this time polish wins....
As a bettor all you're doing by betting the middle is taking a 20-1 shot on your risk (the juice) and betting the score lands on 172...173...or 174....you get like 9-1 if 171 or 175 hits.....anything else you lose the juice......
What's this big issue about trying a middle at one shop?
If the shop doesn't want middling, don't move the number.....if you offer multiple lines on the same game, expect that you might pay both if it lands on any of them....if you pay the same guy twice or two guys once, you as a book are out the money, plain and simple.
Is this any different than hedging a parlay on it's final leg.....taking a guaranteed profit rather than risk losing all of it should the last pick flop? Let's say you had a parlay that paid 10,000......you hedge the last game so either way you make around 5000....should the book be pissed that you cashed out with 5000 from the parlay or be grateful that maybe now they won't lose 10,000?
Maybe those amounts aren't high enough for a book to haggle over....but what about hedging your last game in the same shop as you have your parlay placed? Taboo?