Big Bets Report: $777k Bet Falls Short For Second-Straight Week

When NFL favorites have a really good day, then the public betting masses have a really good day. That’s in large part due to an inordinate number of parlays getting to the pay window.

Like a $10, 19-leg parlay that connected for more than $225,000. And if that bettor could’ve waited it out a little longer, perhaps the payday would’ve been significantly larger.

More on that lottery-ticket-type win, a quarter-million-dollar parlay wager that hit, and a massive loser on one of the few favorites that didn’t get the job done.

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It’s been stated often in this space: Parlays are a bookmaker’s best friend. It’s almost always true.

But if you’re compelled to combine a myriad of needed outcomes, then at least keep your bet size reasonable.

A Hard Rock Bet customer did just that over the weekend, putting $10 on a 19-leg parlay. That’s a practical amount for such a bet.

Eleven legs were on the NFL — all on favorites to cover the spread/alternate spread — while the other eight legs included some college football, NBA and NHL, all from Saturday games.

The odds were an outrageous +7209888. In slightly easier-to-digest terms, just beyond 72,000/1.

The eight Saturday legs all won. Then the NFL favorites rolled through Sunday:

• Bengals -3 vs. Falcons. Cincinnati rolls 34-17.
• Broncos -3 vs. Panthers. Denver wins 26-21.
• Chiefs alternate spread -6.5 vs. Jets. K.C. cruises 35-12.
• Lions -6.5 vs. Dolphins. Detroit wins 19-9.
• Giants -3 vs. Eagles. New York 19, Philly 11.
• Rams alternate spread -2.5 vs. Commanders. L.A. wins 20-13.
• Texans alternate spread -3 vs. Chargers. Houston coasts 44-22.
• 49ers alternate spread -6.5 vs. Raiders. San Fran breezes 38-17.
• Seahawks alternate spread -6.5 vs. Cardinals. Seattle wins 17-3.

That’s 17-for-17, heading to Bucs-Bears on Sunday night football. The ticket had Bears alternate spread -3 — Chicago was -6.5 on the standard spread — and finished with Bills -3 vs. Vikings on Monday night.

But rather than play a sports betting version of Press Your Luck, the customer took a cashout offer of $226,877. Yes, if the final two legs delivered, the win would’ve been $720,998.

But still, nearly $227K is an unbelievable score on just a $10 wager.

As it turned out, the Bears won 27-24 — a push, meaning the ticket would still be alive for Monday night, but would pay one less leg. However, there’ll be no sweating that game tonight, with a life-changing payday already secured.

A very small fragment of sports bettors are in a whole other universe, apparently with disposable income the likes of which we could never dream. 

Over the course of the NFL season, Station Sports in Las Vegas has seen some monster plays from such bettors, and Week 9 was no different.

A Red Rock sportsbook customer put $250,000 on a three-leg moneyline parlay of Lions-Rams-Chiefs. And perhaps the same customer — it’s likely, but that information is not publicly available — added a $35,000 five-leg moneyline parlay on Jaguars-Lions-Giants-Rams-Chiefs.

The Jags rolled over the Ravens 33-10 on Thursday night. All the other legs involved games in Sunday’s early window, and of course, on a favorite fiesta Sunday, all of them won.

So the first bet banked $310,982 profit, for a total payout of $560,982, and the second bet netted $111,923 (total payout $146,923).

At DraftKings Sports, a bettor went all in on the Patriots -3 (-115) vs. Packers. The customer plunked down an eye-popping $777,777, just needing New England to win at home by more than a field goal.

But on a Sunday of friendly favorites, the Patriots weren’t one of them. New England was in a 17-0 hole by early in the second quarter and got trucked 45-27.

So that’s a huge six-figure donation to the house.

In fact, it marked the second straight week that a $777,777 bet was placed at DraftKings. In Week 8, that same bet showed up on Eagles +6 vs. Commanders.

And it lost, too. It’s quite likely both bets came from the same customer. If so, that bettor is in the hole more than $1.55 million over the past two weekends.

The Packers’ win notwithstanding, Sunday was not fun-day for underdogs. Another DraftKings customer found that out the hard way.

The bettor put $450,000 on Eagles +3 vs. Giants. But injury-riddled Philly mustered just a touchdown/2-point conversion and a field goal, while losing 19-11.

That’s another big balance transfer in favor of the books.

First touchdown scorer and anytime touchdown scorer have become extremely popular NFL betting markets. You don’t need a team to win. You just need a little individual success.

Parlaying those markets is popular, as well. On Sunday night, a Caesars Sports customer seemingly had part of the script for the Bucs-Bears clash.

Bears wideout Rome Odunze took care of the first leg on that $25 parlay, getting the game’s first touchdown on Chicago’s opening drive. Less than three minutes later, Luther Burden III scored on a 56-yard TD pass from Caleb Williams to make it 14-0.

So two legs were completed, but Tampa Bay was not looking particularly good. However, the Bucs kept at it, and Bucky Irving scored two second-half touchdowns, helping Tampa tie the game late at 24.

The Bears ultimately won 27-24 on a final-second field goal. And the player-prop parlay delivered, turning a mere 25 bucks into $10,625.

At Hard Rock Bet, there were two parlay bets — from different customers — featuring the same nine anytime touchdown scorers. One was for $50, the other for $45, needing each of the following to find the end zone on Sunday:

• Bengals wideout Tee Higgins
• Falcons running back Bijan Robinson
• Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III
• Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr.
• Giants tight end Isaiah Likely
• Packers wideout Matthew Golden
• 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey
• Raiders tight end Brock Bowers
• Bears wideout Luther Burden III

The first ticket had long-shot odds of +95094, or just about 951/1. The second had slightly shorter odds of +93025, just beyond 930/1.

All nine players struck paydirt. So the first bettor turned $50 into $47,597, while the second turned $45 into $41,906.

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, Falcons tight end Charlie Woerner was a hefty +7500 (75/1) to score the first TD in Sunday’s game vs. the Bengals. And Woerner was a well-paying +1400 in the anytime touchdown market.

Less than four minutes into the game, Woerner cashed both those tickets for anyone who took a shot, scoring on a 1-yard pass from Michael Penix.

If you put a tenner on Woerner first TD scorer, then you bagged $750 profit. If you got frisky and put $100 on it, then that’s a $7,500 win.

And 10 bucks on Woerner anytime TD netted $140 profit. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of ROI.

Or how about taking Green Bay QB Jordan Love to score the first TD of the Packers-Patriots game? That was +5500 at DraftKings and cashed out just 1 minute, 41 seconds into the first quarter, on Love’s 13-yard TD run.

A $10 bet on that prop profited $550.

The aforementioned $777,777 Patriots wager was the largest reported bet of the week. But there were countless other big-dollar bets, including a couple of big believers in Alabama — or perhaps the same bettor twice — on the college football Week 10 oddsboard.

Caesars Sports took a $425,000 bet on Alabama +6 (-110) and a $300,000 bet on Alabama +6 (-107) for Saturday’s game at LSU. Both bets were taken in Louisiana.

The underdog Crimson Tide not only covered, but rolled to a 31-13 outright victory.

The first bet netted $386,363.65 profit (total payout $811,363.65), and the second profited $280,373.85 (total payout $580,373.95).

Other major wagers on the NFL and college football fronts:

• $204,000 Ravens +9.5 vs. Jaguars (BetMGM). The Ravens were getting shelled 33-3 before getting their first touchdown, midway through the fourth quarter. Those were the final points in a 33-10 loss. So that’s a six-figure donation to the house.
• $100,000 Chiefs moneyline -500 vs. Jets (Caesars). Kansas City was only up 14-12 at halftime, but ended up breezing to a 35-12 victory. The bettor profited $20,000 (total payout $120,000).
• $52,000 Buccaneers alternate spread -2.5 (+236) vs. Bears (DraftKings). The bettor needed a Tampa outright win by 3 or more, but the Bucs fell 27-24.
• $80,000 Ohio moneyline -590 vs. Akron (Caesars). The big favorite Bobcats actually struggled, but got two fourth-quarter TDs to win 28-20. The bettor netted $13,500 profit (total payout $93,500).
• $58,943.78 (yes, 78 cents too) Colorado +4 vs. Arizona State. The Buffs failed to cover in a 20-10 loss.

Just to remind: These big-bankroll high-rollers have the means to not only make big bets, but absorb jaw-dropping losses. Keep your expectations in line with your budget. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.