In sports betting, customers are quite accustomed to betting on the usual markets: the spread, moneyline and total. Whether it’s the full game, first half, second half, quarters or more.
But with all the technological advancements over the past several years, the menu is now massive. That includes the ability to bet on a wider variety of alternate point spreads.
A BetMGM customer took that option to the limit and almost got taken to the cleaners. But the bettor ended up winning big on the NBA playoffs last week.
More on that ladder of wagers, a 90-cent bet that went yard, a huge Champions League hit and more, as we recap the week that was in sports betting.
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Alternate Reality
Heading into Game 5 of their first-round series against the Nuggets, the Timberwolves were quite shorthanded. The starting backcourt of Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo was not in the mix.
Both got hurt in Game 4, Edwards with a hyperextended knee (though he could return in these playoffs) and DiVincenzo with a season-ending torn Achilles.
So no surprise, Denver was a healthy 11.5-point home favorite last Monday.
A BetMGM high-roller decided to put $10,000 on Minnesota +11.5, to win approximately $9,100 (total payout $19,100).
Then the bettor decided to go all-in on a bunch of Timberwolves alternate point spreads: +12.5, +13.5, +14.5, +15.5, +16.5 and +17.5.
Seven bets in all, totaling a whopping $375,000, just banking on Minnesota to stay within the range of all those numbers.
The bettor then got a monster sweat. Entering the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves were down 97-75. So at that moment, all seven bets were losers.
With 6:57 remaining, Minnesota trailed 107-88. That’s a 19-point gap. Not good.
The T-Wolves then made a charge to get within 111-101 with 4:38 remaining. All of a sudden, all seven bets were in winning range.
Then the Nuggets responded with a 10-2 run to go up 121-103 with 2:53 left, putting the entire $375,000 at risk once again.
But the Timberwolves finished with a 10-4 run, losing 125-113. That made six of the seven bets winners.
The only loser was on the smallest bet this person made. Even with that $10,000 loser, the customer bagged a huge profit, turning the other $365,000 in wagers into $196,500 in profit (total payout $561,500).
Dimes to Dollars
There’s been a lot written in this space about betting responsible amounts on parlays. Don’t get carried away, or you might get carried out.
A Fanatics Sportsbook customer heeded that advice, perhaps to an extreme. The bettor put all of 90 cents on a four-leg parlay of players to hit one or more home runs.
The ticket was on last Monday’s MLB slate:
Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Rangers. The Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki and Moises Ballesteros went yard in the second and third innings, respectively, with Ballesteros belting a grand slam, though Chicago ultimately lost to the Padres 9-7.
The longest wait for the bettor was on the Angels’ Jorge Soler, who homered in the seventh inning of an 8-7 loss to the White Sox.
At long-shot odds of +116996 — or almost 1170/1 — those nine dimes turned into $1,053.86.
Not a bad night’s ROI.
Soccer Score
With the World Cup on tap this summer — on FOX networks, by the way — bettors are taking more of an interest in soccer. In some cases, massive interest.
Last Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain met Bayern Munich in the first of a two-leg Champions League semifinal. Paris Saint-Germain was a modest home underdog of +130, and a BetMGM high-roller made a mountainous $595,000 wager on PSG.
What followed was a whale of match, with nine goals in all. And the major wager seemed to be in pretty good shape when PSG took a 5-2 lead in the 58th minute.
But Bayern responded with goals in the 65th and 68th minutes to make it 5-4. The final 22 minutes plus injury time were a big sweat for the big bet.
PSG survived to win 5-4, and the bettor hauled in $773,500 profit (total payout $1,368,500).
Also from that match, a Fanatics Sportsbook customer put $850 on this seven-leg parlay:
All seven legs delivered at odds of +5320, and the bettor won $45,220 (total payout $46,070).
Parlay Partay
Just to reiterate: Putting $2,000 on a seven-leg parlay is generally not sound fiduciary strategy. It’s better to play far more reasonable amounts.
That said, a Fanatics customer crafted a $2000 seven-leg same-game parlay on player props for Thursday’s Nuggets-Timberwolves Game 6.
At least the seven legs were reasonable, with none a big favorite nor a big underdog. And all seven got there, at hefty odds of +7750.
Furthermore, the bettor utilized a 50% profit-boost promo, hiking those odds to +11626 (about 116/1). And that’s how $2,000 turned into a whopping $234,522.
Homerless Happiness
It’s fun to bet on home runs happening. Bettors like to see things happen. Bettors like to see scoring.
But going against that grain can pay off. In the final three games of Saturday’s MLB slate, a FanDuel Sportsbook customer decided there wouldn’t be a single home run among them.
The bettor put a relatable $45 on the three-leg parlay of:
Indeed, there wasn’t a long ball to be found in those three contests. At odds of +41550 (415.5/1), the bettor turned 45 bucks into an $18,742.50 windfall.
Comeback Kings
The 76ers trailed the Celtics 3-1 in a best-of-7 first-round series. That was even after Joel Embiid rejoined Philadelphia in Game 4, less than three weeks after having an emergency appendectomy.
Philly got drilled in that game, losing 128-96 at home. With two of the final three games in Boston — if the series even got to Game 7 — it didn’t look good for the Sixers.
Yet one DraftKings Sportsbook customer figured, why not? On April 27, the bettor put $1,000 on 76ers +2500 to win the series.
And win they did.
The seventh-seeded Sixers took Games 5 and 7 on the road, sandwiched around a Game 6 home win, to knock out No. 2 seed Boston. Philly completed the comeback with a 109-100 win Saturday.
The bettor pocketed a cool $25,000 profit. That’s outstanding ROI on a five-day investment.
Just keep in mind that’s generally not the reality of such bets. Keep your expectations and budget reasonable, people. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.