Big Bets Report: $5, 8-leg Parlay Narrowly Misses Million-Dollar Payday

Sunday was National Tight Ends Day, and don’t think the public betting masses didn’t know it.

Bettors were all over tight ends in player props for NFL Week 7 odds, particularly in touchdown scorer markets. No surprise, the 49ers’ George Kittle was the most popular of all.

But in a missed-it-by-that-much wager for the ages, a $5 parlay fell one leg short of $1 million by banking on a couple of Kittle touchdowns.

More on that close call, a battle of major wagers on Patriots vs. Bears, a $10K-to-$422K conversion and a parlay on which a couple tight ends indeed delivered.

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Ahead of Sunday’s games, a Hard Rock Bet customer put all of five bucks on an eight-leg parlay of anytime touchdown scorers. 

In honor of National Tight Ends Day, four legs were on players at that position:

• Jets TE Mason Taylor anytime touchdown +400
• Panthers TE Darren Waller anytime TD +300
• Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson anytime TD +220
• 49ers TE George Kittle two or more TDs +650

The other four legs:

• Texas wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. anytime TD +300
• Browns running back Quinshon Judkins two or more TDs +1000
• Bengals wideout Tee Higgins anytime TD +140
• Dolphins QB Malik Willis anytime TD +325

Add up all those numbers with a parlay calculator, and you’ve got eye-popping odds that look more like a Social Security number: +21081593. In slightly easier-to-digest terms, that’s about 210,816/1.

Making it more interesting, all those players were competing at the same time, in the 1 p.m. ET Sunday kickoff window. And seven legs got there for the bettor, including Judkins scoring two TDs — which he actually did before halftime of Cleveland’s 27-24 win over Tennessee.

But while Kittle had a solid day, with eight catches for 88 yards, he didn’t find the end zone at all.

If Kittle had struck paydirt twice, then the bettor would’ve turned that $5 into a whopping $1.054 million.

If the bettor just excluded the Kittle leg, the ticket still would’ve profited about $140,000. Which is a fine day, to be sure. 

So close.

The Patriots-Bears Thursday night game drew a trio of major wagers at three sportsbooks.

Station Sports in Las Vegas took the biggest of those bets, a hefty $600,000 Patriots +3.5 (-140). 

On the flip side, Caesars Sports had a Michigan customer put $175,000 on Bears -3 (-115).

And at DraftKings Sports, a bettor put $50,000 on Bears' moneyline -155, simply needing Chicago to win, regardless of the final margin.

The Bears held on for a 30-24 win and cover. So the Caesars bettor banked $152,174 (total payout $327,174), and the DK customer won $32,258 (total payout $82,258).

But the Station high-roller made a massive six-figure donation to the house. Ouch.

At Fanatics Sportsbook, a couple of tight ends helped get half the job done and two wideouts did the other half for a customer.

The bettor put $200 on a four-leg anytime TD scorer parlay, with tight ends Trey McBride and Tucker Kraft joined by wide receivers Drake London and Marvin Harrison Jr.

London and Harrison delivered first for the Falcons and Texans, respectively, in Sunday’s early window of games. In the late window, McBride and Kraft found the end zone for the Cardinals and Packers, respectively.

The bettor also utilized a 20% boost promotion, hiking the odds from +4075 to +4890 — just shy of 49/1. So that $200 turned a profit of $9,780 (total payout $9,980). Not a bad day’s work.

For something a little more relatable: A Hard Rock Bet customer turned a mere two George Washingtons into $5,071.50 on a three-leg parlay of first touchdown scorers.

Two of those legs were longer shots: Dolphins wideout Caleb Douglas and Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. were both +2000. The third leg was Colts running back Jonathan Taylor +475.

All three were the first players into the end zone in their respective games. At healthy odds of +253475 — almost 2535/1 — the bettor's two bucks turned into $5,071.

And how about something completely unrelatable: Putting $10,000 on an eight-leg NFL parlay.

That’s not advisable in pretty much any situation. As the cliché goes: Parlays are a bookmaker’s best friend.

But in this instance, a Hard Rock customer got to the pay window on a combination of plays on point spreads, moneylines and totals, along with one player prop: Giants wideout Malik Nabers over 68.5 receiving yards.

Nabers finished with 111 yards and the other seven legs hit, as well. On Sunday night, Seahawks' moneyline clinched it, with Seattle beating the Chiefs 20-3.

At odds just beyond +4120, the bettor’s $10K turned into $422,030.

During football season, this space is normally reserved for notable wagers on the NFL and college football. But when someone knocks out a nearly $1.5 million win on a two-leg parlay, exceptions must be made.

A high-roller at Fanatics Sportsbook put $18,000 on an NHL player-prop parlay: Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl +575 to have two or more goals vs. the Wild, and Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers +1100 to have two or more goals vs. the Canucks.

Run those numbers through the parlay calculator, and you get odds of +8000. Both players delivered, and the bettor profited $1.440 million, for a total payout of $1.458 million.

It’s not all about making big bets or cashing out huge on a 10-leg parlay. Which, to be clear, is rare.

Sometimes, it’s about putting 10 bucks on a single straight bet, backing a long shot or semi-long shot, and getting a solid return on investment.

For example, at DraftKings Sportsbook, taking Rams tight end Davis Allen to score the game’s first TD at +3500. Or better still, Allen to score two or more TDs at +8000.

A tenner on the first would’ve netted $350. On the second, your wallet would be stuffed with $800.

Caesars Sports has an interesting offering each week on the 1 p.m. ET Sunday NFL games: First player to score a touchdown, based on elapsed game time.

If you had Zay Flowers +2800 in Week 7, step up and claim your prize. The Ravens' wideout scored just 84 seconds into Sunday’s game vs. the Bengals.

A $10 wager on that would’ve blossomed into $280 profit, in short order.

As noted above, Station Sports took a $600,000 play on the Patriots to cover vs. the Bears. In fact, as has been the case much of the season, Station is seeing quite a few six-figure NFL bets.

Sportsbooks don’t reveal who’s making the bets. But if you buy into social media rumors, most — perhaps all — of these Station plays are coming from the same customer. 

If so, that customer had a very up-and-down last few days.

Along with that Patriots setback, Station took the following major wagers:

• $600,000 Lions -3 (-150) vs. Packers. Detroit won 20-17 on a final-seconds field goal, giving the bettor a push for a refund. Which certainly beats a loss, though the wager was nearly a winner. Detroit was on the doorstep of the end zone but opted for the field goal to close it out
• $600,000 Bucs +3.5 (-150) vs. Panthers. Tampa Bay rolled to a 43-13 outright win. So the bettor collected $400,000 profit (total payout $1 million)
• $150,000 Chiefs +3.5 (-145) vs. Seahawks. That’s another big donation to the house, with K.C. failing to cover in a 20-3 loss
• $100,000 Bucs +3.5 (-150)/Lions moneyline -190. The two-leg parlay was a winner, profiting $154,386 (total payout $254,386)

Other notable major wagers from the weekend:

• $116,100 Titans moneyline +155 vs. Browns (Hard Rock Bet). That’s a lot of faith to put in a one-win team. Tennessee actually jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but ultimately lost 27-24 on a final-seconds field goal. So that’s a losing ticket
• $106,000 Browns -2.5 (-106) vs. Titans (Caesars Sports). Cleveland won by three, and the bettor profited $100,000 (total payout $206,000)
• $60,000 Falcons +2.5 (even) vs. 49ers. Atlanta not only covered but won outright 29-20. The bettor cleared $60,000 profit (total payout $120,000)

Always bear in mind that these high-rolling customers have the disposable income to not only make big bets, but absorb what for us are jaw-dropping losses. 

Keep your bet size and expectations reasonable. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.