'No regrets at all,' says bettor who sold parlay ticket potentially worth $148k

On Friday night, in the second College Football Playoff semifinal, the journey resumes for an unbelievable 85-cent bet on a 14-leg parlay. There’s only one leg left to make the wild wager a winner: Ohio State winning the National Championship.

The Buckeyes need two more victories. They'll need to defeat Texas in the Cotton Bowl, then they'll need to get a win against either Notre Dame or Penn State in the Jan. 20 national title game.

While the parlay finishes with college football, it’s a mix of March Madness, the NBA All-Star Game, NBA and NHL futures, along with a few boxing outcomes. It’s a curious mix and an even more curious wager amount: 85 cents to win an incredible $147,507.44.

"It was the last 85 cents in [my] FanDuel account for the week," said the bettor, who goes by UnitUpper on X.

I first wrote about this incredible ticket back in December. 

UnitUpper has actually already turned a huge profit by selling the bet. And the new holder of that 14-leg parlay could still cash out big.

Both bettors talked about the genesis and evolution of the wager and the prospect of it finally cashing out.

Following a Friend

Back on Feb. 12, UnitUpper didn’t necessarily plan to do anything with the 85 cents sitting in his FanDuel Sportsbook account.

"It was a bet my friend made, and I tailed along," UnitUpper said, noting he made his bet after a friend did so on a similarly small bet of just $1. "When I put in the bet, I thought it was no different than any other long-shot future I would make.

"I didn’t feel like I had a chance until all the NBA division legs were green."

That was April 13, the final day of the NBA regular season. Five legs of the parlay were on division winners, and all five came through:

• Milwaukee Bucks to win the Central Division
• Orlando Magic to win the Southeast Division
• Los Angeles Clippers to win the Pacific Division
• Dallas Mavericks to win the Southwest Division
• Oklahoma City to win the Northwest Division

That got the parlay more than halfway there, with the first eight legs winning. Two days later, two NHL division winners — the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks — got the parlay through 10 legs.

"After the NBA/NHL legs were done, I was offered around $1,000 [for the bet], before the Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney fight," he said. "I thought about cashing out, but knew I had a shot with Garcia."

Indeed, he did. 

Garcia, a +440 underdog, scored an upset of WBC super lightweight champ Haney on April 21. Then came two more boxing wins:

• Vasyl Lomachenko by technical knockout vs. George Kambosos Jr.
• Oleksandr Usyk by split decision vs. Tyson Fury, to claim the undisputed heavyweight title.

Hurry Up And Wait

Usyk’s win was on May 12, and by then, UnitUpper’s buddy had already cashed out on his $1 bet, selling the ticket on the secondary market. Since then, it’s been a nine-month wait for UnitUpper, hoping the 14th and final leg came through on Ohio State.

"It’s been a lot of anxiety the whole season," UnitUpper said. "I settled down after the win over Penn State. I was slightly nervous before the Indiana game."

Ohio State held off Penn State 20-13 in Week 10 and rolled to a 38-15 win over Indiana in Week 13. Fortunately, the Buckeyes’ regular-season-ending 13-10 loss to Michigan as 19.5-point home favorites didn’t keep Ohio State out of the College Football Playoff.

But with the Buckeyes needing four straight wins in the CFP, UnitUpper didn’t want to push his luck any further. 

Before the first round of the CFP, on Dec. 20, he sold the ticket through WagerWire, a secondary marketplace specializing in selling sports betting tickets, typically futures wagers and parlays.

The end result: That tiny 85-cent flier bet turned into a huge profit of $16,750 for UnitUpper.

New Ballgame

Now, the 14-leg parlay is in the hands of another bettor, who also wished to remain semi-anonymous. He goes by Cat on X (formerly Twitter) and had to pony up nearly $17,000 to get the ticket. But he’s now just two wins away from $147,507.44. 

Subtract the $16,750 Cat paid for the bet, and it’s a profit of $130,757.44.

That’s pretty good ROI, too, albeit at a price most of us couldn’t even imagine.

But Cat actually took things a step further: He bought another futures parlay from WagerWire that only needs a Penn State championship to cash out.

So Cat is now in for $32,750, which he’ll have to deduct from his winnings if Ohio State or Penn State lift the trophy on Jan. 20. At a minimum, though, he’d clear $88,262.74 in profit.

"I got great [odds] in the mid +600s for this Penn State ticket," Cat said via WagerWire. "If I was to hedge using the books, I would be getting at best +500. Combined with the original Ohio State ticket, I now have about a 60% chance for a big payout."

Added WagerWire CEO Zach Doctor: "The College Football Playoff has supercharged the WagerWire marketplace. With so many teams having realistic shots to win the title, there’s been no shortage of monster tickets down to the last leg."

Still, getting that last leg to the finish line is no guarantee, which Cat recognizes.

"Obviously, if neither Ohio State nor Penn State wins, that would hurt a lot. Because of that, I’m currently exploring hedge options for the other teams, as well," he said.

Meanwhile, UnitUpper is sitting pretty, with no sweat and no regret, after turning that tidy sum of 85 cents into $16,750.

"No regrets at all," UnitUpper said. "If I had the bankroll to hedge and secure a higher payday, I would’ve done it. Or I could’ve let it ride.

"But in my situation, that didn’t seem smart at all — to risk walking away with zero dollars after so many months of sweating."

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!