NFL Week 8 Big Bets Recap: $10 tight end TDs parlay turns into $185K

All day Sunday, the banter went on about it being National Tight Ends Day, with some of the most popular bets in NFL Week 8 odds being on tight ends.

And a few people made those bets really pay off. How cool would it be to turn a $10 parlay into a whopping $185,000, just because a bunch of tight ends found the end zone?

Well, very cool — and also very lucky. 

So keep that in mind while you read on for more on that wager, along with other notable parlays and big plays from NFL Week 8 and college football Week 9 betting.

Parlay Partay

When San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle caught a 2-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys, there was surely much rejoicing. At FanDuel Sportsbook, one customer had a $10 parlay chock-full of tight ends as anytime TD scorers

All of them scored, with Kittle closing the deal. 

So 10 bucks turned into a massive windfall of $185,211.36.

This $5 player-prop parlay of tight ends scoring TDs netted almost $30,000 for one FanDuel bettor:

Another FanDuel customer cashed a $40 parlay for more than $22,000, again banking on tight ends scoring TDs, capped by Kittle in the Niners’ 30-24 win over the Cowboys.

And why not carry over National Tight Ends Day to the Monday night game between the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers?

A DraftKings Sportsbook customer put together a 10-leg parlay of tight ends to score anytime touchdowns. The first nine are in, and the Steelers’ Pat Freiermuth can clinch it.

If that happens, then the bettor’s $1 investment — at odds of +3245282, or approximately 32,453/1 — becomes $32,453.82.

In-Game Hall of Fame

Sports betting via mobile app/online has evolved so quickly that some pretty amazing options can be strung together. Many people have heard of same-game parlays, also called single-game parlays.

But how about single-drive parlays? During Sunday night’s Cowboys-Niners game, a FanDuel bettor put $5 down at +20000 odds (200/1) that the following would happen on a San Fran third-quarter drive:

• Brock Purdy 20 yards or greater completed pass
• Purdy 10 yards or greater run
• Purdy to score a TD

On the drive’s second play, Purdy ran for 16 yards. On the next play, Purdy hit Kittle on a 27-yard reception. And Purdy capped the drive by shoving his way in from the 2-yard line for the touchdown.

So the bettor profited $1,000. Not bad ROI for a single drive within an NFL game.

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 75, that’s a pretty good thing, too.

In the NFL Week 8 Thursday night game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams, Fanduel had L.A. wideout Demarcus Robinson at +7500 (75/1) to score two or more touchdowns. Through almost three quarters, Robinson had no TDs.

Then he caught a 25-yard pass from Matthew Stafford to give the Rams a 21-17 lead with 2:36 left in the third quarter. Midway through the fourth quarter, Stafford hit Robinson on a 10-yard TD pass to put L.A. up 28-20, and the Rams went on to win 30-20.

If you’d just put a fiver on Robinson’s two-TD prop, then you’d have cashed out for $375 profit. That’ll get you a lot of Chili’s Three-For-Me meals and bottomless chips and salsa.

Also in the Vikings-Rams game, Minnesota’s Josh Oliver — a tight end, of course — was +6000 at FanDuel to score the game’s first touchdown. But he did just that. Five bucks on that would’ve netted $300.

Finally, at Caesars Sports, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was +2600 to score three or more TDs against the Bengals. Hurts indeed scored three times, which would’ve turned $5 into $130. It’s not a ton, but you can’t beat that ROI.

I Like Big Bets And I Cannot Lie

In Week 9 college football odds and Week 8 NFL odds, there were plenty of wagers much larger than a $7,000 play on Wednesday’s Liberty-Kennesaw State game. But as far as bang for your buck goes, this one was pretty explosive.

At Caesars Sports, a customer put $7,000 on Kennesaw State moneyline +1450. That’s the kind of odds a team gets to win a game outright when said team is a 27-point underdog.

But Kennesaw State led for significant chunks of the game and ultimately held on for a 27-24 upset. So the customer cashed out for $101,500 in profit ($108,500 total payout).

More notable bets from Caesars Sports:

• $120,000 Bears -2.5 vs. Commanders. Chicago loses 18-15 on a Hail Mary. Oof.
• $110,000 Dolphins -4 vs. Cardinals. Miami loses 28-27 on a final-seconds field goal. Another win for the house.
• $110,000 49ers -4 vs. Cowboys. This one gets there, and the bettor profits $100,000 (total payout $210,000).
• $50,000 Vikings -3 (even) vs. Rams. Another donation to the casino.
• $57,500 Texas A&M moneyline -115 vs. LSU. Aggies roll 38-23, and the bettor profits $50,000 (total payout $107,500).
• $55,000 Illinois +21.5 vs. Oregon. The Illini fail to cover in a 38-9 road loss.

Those losing tickets should serve as a reminder that this is gambling we’re talking about. Same thing with all the parlays noted above. There’s a reason odds are long on those exotic bets: Because far more often than not, they don’t cash.

So, as always, keep it reasonable. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.

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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