NFL Week 10 Big Bets Recap: Bettor turns $43 into $98k on TD parlay

There’s a reason a long shot is a long shot. 

It means a winning result is typically not in the cards — and even more so when you pair two long shots together.

But occasionally, the dealer flips you the best possible cards. That was the case for a FanDuel Sportsbook customer who hit a two-leg long-shot parlay for nearly $100,000, on NFL Week 10 odds.

More on that and other notable parlays, unique wins and major wagers — winners and losers alike — as we recap NFL Week 10 and college football Week 11 betting.

The Last Shall Be First

One of the more popular prop bets each week in the NFL is on a player to score a game’s first touchdown. The usual suspects are favored — Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson, Justin Jefferson and the like.

Who’s not favored, or even close to it? The backup quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars. That would be Mac Jones, former New England Patriots starter.

Jags starting QB Trevor Lawrence (shoulder) was inactive Sunday, so Jones got the nod to start against the Minnesota Vikings. At FanDuel, Jones was a hefty +7000 to score the game’s first touchdown.

Meanwhile, in the Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints game, Saints wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling was +3100 to score the first touchdown.

A prescient FanDuel customer decided to pair Jones and Valdes-Scantling on a two-leg first-TD parlay. The bettor put down the odd sum of $42.90, at odds of +227100 or, in more digestible form, 2271/1.

And guess what happened? About four minutes into the Falcons-Saints game, Derek Carr found Valdes-Scantling on a 40-yard TD pass. And late in the first quarter of Vikings-Jags, Jones plunged in from a yard out for the game’s first touchdown.

So the bettor cashed out for a whopping $97,468.80.

Parlay Partay

Another FanDuel customer went the anytime touchdown route but needed all three players to score in the first half of their respective games. He connected Denver Broncos wideout Courtland Sutton to Tennessee Titans wideout Calvin Ridley and Arizona Cardinals wideout Marvin Harrison Jr.

Sutton put up a second-quarter TD against Kansas City, Ridley scored in the first quarter vs. the L.A. Chargers, and Harrison scored in the second quarter vs. the New York Jets.

The $150 player-prop parlay was at odds of +31260, or a little under 313/1. 

Add it all up, and you’ve got about a $47,000 win.

The high-scoring Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens Thursday night game produced some big winners. At DraftKings Sportsbook, two customers — one in Maine, one in Illinois — put in parlay wagers on both Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow throwing four or more touchdown passes.

Both QBs had four TD passes in Baltimore’s 35-34 victory. The Maine customer put up $750 and won $49,830, while the Illinois customer turned $150 into $11,850.

On some bets, you’ve surely heard it said: "Everybody’s on it."

In the Bengals-Ravens game, at DraftKings, that saying was pretty much true. More than 20,000 bettors were on the four-leg anytime-TD parlay of Ravens running back Derrick Henry and tight end Mark Andrews and Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase and running back Chase Brown.

The odds were only a modest +1200. But all four found the end zone, so even if you only put 10 bucks on it, you would’ve cashed out for $120 profit.

Here’s Hoping You Had It

It’s not all about cashing out wild parlays for tens of thousands of dollars. When you multiply any wager by 37, you’re gonna do pretty good.

Such was the case for anyone who had a Bills defensive touchdown as the first score in the Buffalo-Indianapolis game. Cornerback Taron Johnson returned an interception 23 yards to put Buffalo up 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.

A $100 bet at +3700 odds would’ve netted a healthy $3,700 at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Bengals tight end Tanner Hudson wasn’t expected to be part of the scoring fest in Cincy’s 35-34 loss at Baltimore. FanDuel had Hudson anytime TD at +1700. A customer then used a profit boost to stretch those odds to +2250, then put $100 on the wager.

Hudson scored on a three-yard TD pass late in the first half, and the bettor profited $2,250 (total payout $2,350).

And how’s this for timing on an in-game bet, in the final seconds of the Denver Broncos-Kansas City Chiefs game? The Broncos, down 16-14, were lining up for a relative chip-shot of a field goal, 35 yards.

At that moment, a DraftKings bettor put $150 on the Chiefs to win at +1000. K.C. blocked the field goal to preserve the victory, and in a span of just a few seconds, that customer profited $1,500.

I Like Big Bets And I Cannot Lie

Caesars Sports took a few major wagers this weekend, mostly in the NFL. Among the notable plays:

  • $126,000 Giants -6.5 vs. Panthers. All I can say is oof. New York never led, eventually tied it at 17 in the waning seconds, then lost 20-17 in overtime.
  • $110,000 Bengals +6 vs. Ravens. Cincy loses 35-34, but covers the number. Bettor profits $100,000 (total payout $210,000).
  • $110,000 Rams -1 vs. Dolphins. This one still has to play out, on Monday night.
  • $26,000 Lamar Jackson Over 230.5 passing yards. The Ravens QB got there easily vs. Cincy, throwing for 290 yards. Bettor profits $23,636 (total payout $49,636).
  • $55,000 Oregon -24.5 vs. Maryland. Ducks win 39-18, but don’t cover. Chalk another one up for the house.
  • $55,000 UNLV -13 vs. Hawaii. The Rebels eke out a 29-27 win, and the house keeps the money again.

To wrap it up, how about a big bet to win a little? 

On Saturday’s Florida vs. Texas game, with the Longhorns a huge home favorite, a Caesars customer put $50,333.35 on Texas moneyline -2000.

All the Longhorns had to do was win, which they easily did, 49-17. So the bettor profited all of $2,516.67, for a total payout of $52,850.02. But hey, that’s 5% ROI. 

In this economy, I’d take it.

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.

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