We’re rapidly approaching the World Cup opener between Mexico and South Africa, followed a day later by Team USA’s opening match vs. Paraguay.
That’s increasing the public betting masses’ appetite for soccer. And high-rollers are on board, too, including a Vegas bettor who made a million-dollar Champions League wager Saturday.
More on that bet, plus follow-up on a $1.7 million parlay win, some major MLB wagers and more, as we recap the week that was in sports betting.
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PSG Payday
Ahead of Saturday’s Paris Saint-Germain vs. Arsenal match in the Champions League final, a Station Sports customer dropped $1 million on PSG -160 to lift the trophy.
The wager was made at Red Rock Resort, HQ for Station Sports.
To say the bettor got a good sweat would be an understatement.
Arsenal went up 1-0 in the fifth minute on a Kai Havertz goal. It took until the 64th minute for PSG to equalize, on Ousmane Dembélé’s penalty-kick goal.
There were no more goals in the final 26 minutes of regulation, nor in injury time, nor in 30 minutes of overtime. So the match went to a penalty-kick shootout.
Paris Saint-Germain won that shootout 4-3 for its second straight Champions League title. And the bettor banked a hefty $625,000 profit, for a total payout of $1.625 million.
Prediction markets got involved with the Champions League final, as well. At Polymarket, a trader put $1.55 million on Arsenal to win.
That trade certainly looked good early, after Havertz’s goal. But Arsenal had two misses in the penalty-kick shootout, sealing its fate and a massive loss for that trader.
Parlay Partay
As reported Friday, a DraftKings Sportsbook customer entered the weekend on the precipice of a massive win, needing the Spurs to take down the Thunder in Saturday’s Game 7.
Months ago, the bettor put $2,500 on a four-leg parlay: USA men’s hockey +180 to win gold medal, Michigan +500 to win March Madness, Knicks +330 to win Eastern Conference and Spurs +850 to win Western Conference.
Roll all that into one bet, and you’ve got huge odds of +68528, or just beyond 685/1, to win a whopping $1.7 million-plus. Pregame, DraftKings offered a cashout of $612,212.95.
But the bettor just couldn’t fathom potentially leaving an additional $1.1 million on the table. He stated multiple times on social media that he didn’t hedge, and — risky as it was — he was ultimately proven correct for not doing so.
The Spurs won 111-103, and the bettor scooped up seven figures.
It’s worth noting that, since the odds were greater than 300/1, 24% of the win was automatically withheld for taxes. That knocks out more than $400,000.
But the bettor certainly wasn’t complaining about hauling home $1.3 million. And DraftKings was a good sport, as well.
“There were several opportunities along the way for this bettor to take a significant cashout. But he chose to stay the course and see the ticket through to the very end,” DraftKings director of sportsbook operations Johnny Avello said. “The final leg required believing in a young Spurs team to win Game 7 on the road, against the reigning champs and MVP, and he never wavered.
“That conviction ultimately paid off in a massive way. It was a thrilling sweat from start to finish, and one that everyone enjoyed following.”
Parlay Partay, Part II
How about a far more relatable bet to us normal people?
At Fanatics Sportsbook, a customer put all of $4 on a 15-leg parlay. And BTW, it’s my strong opinion that if you’re going to make 15-leg parlays, then $4 is probably an appropriate amount to bet.
Be reasonable, people.
The 15 legs — including several heavy favorites — were all over the sports map, hitting women’s tennis, UFC, boxing and an NHL game. At the end of the ticket was an NBA play: Knicks to win the Eastern Conference.
By last Monday, all that remained was that Knicks leg.
New York then went out and blasted Cleveland 130-93 to complete a four-game sweep of the East finals.
At huge odds of +165174, or in easier-to-digest terms, almost 1652/1, that four bucks turned into $6,610.96.
MLB Money
Home-run parlays are among the trending tickets in MLB this season. At Fanatics, a customer put $100 on a four-leg parlay of players to hit at least one home run in Wednesday’s games.
The only sweat, and it wasn’t much of one, was from Munetaka Murakami, who went deep in the seventh inning of a 15-2 White Sox rout vs. the Twins.
Yordan Alvarez went deep twice in the Astros’ 4-3 win over the Rangers, and Shohei Ohtani clinched the parlay win with a first-inning bomb in the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Rockies.
With odds of +28503 — about 285/1 — that C-note turned into $28,603.25. Not a bad night’s work at all.
Hard Rock Bet took a couple of major wagers on MLB over the weekend.
On Saturday, a bettor put $150,000 on the White Sox +110 to beat the Tigers. Chicago rolled to a 7-1 victory, so the customer pocketed $165,000 profit (total payout $315,000).
Then on Sunday, a $90,000 wager landed on the Twins +135 to beat the Pirates. That didn’t turn out so well, as Minnesota got rolled on the road 9-3.
Sinner Winners and Losers
The French Open has seen its share of upsets over the past week-plus in Paris. But none were bigger than tournament favorite Jannik Sinner completely falling apart in the second round vs. 56th-ranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
Sinner entered the match as a massive -10000 favorite, meaning it would take a $10,000 bet just to win $100. As the odds would suggest, Sinner was rolling toward a third-round spot, taking the first two sets 6-3, 6-2, and leading the third set 5-1.
He needed just one more game to close it out in the third.
However, a suddenly-ill Sinner allowed Cerundolo to take the next six games and win the third set 7-5. Cerundolo then plowed over Sinner 6-1, 6-1 in the fourth and fifth sets.
One Caesars Sports customer figured: Why not take an in-match flier on the huge underdog? The bettor put $50 on Cerundolo +3000 and was probably as shocked as anyone when that ticket netted $1,500.
At Hard Rock Bet, Cerundolo’s in-match odds were even longer, at +5000. A bettor put 10 bucks on the ‘dog and got a fine return of $500.
On the flip side, at FanDuel Sportsbook, a customer put $5,000 on Sinner -10000 before the match, figuring it was a surefire way to win $50.
It sure seemed that way with Sinner up 5-1 in the third, cruising to victory. But crazy things happen in sports. And in sports betting.
Which serves as another reminder: Sports betting is gambling. Keep your wagers and expectations reasonable. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.