Sure, the NBA and NHL playoffs offer plenty to wager on at this time of year. And there’s a full slate of MLB games practically every day.
But don’t overlook golf for great opportunities.
A high-rolling Fanatics Sportsbook customer hit the sweet spot multiple times, leading to a huge six-figure win on Sunday.
More on that big payday, along with a well-worth-it nine-month wait and other notable wagers, as we recap the week that was in sports betting.
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Welcome, Matt
Before last week’s RBC Heritage teed off, a big-dollar bettor went all in on Matt Fitzpatrick to win the PGA Tour event. The customer made four separate straight bets, totaling $34,353, including a $15,000 pop at +1800.
Fitzpatrick followed by shooting 65-63-68 over the first three days to take a three-stroke lead into the final round. The only issue: Scottie Scheffler was the player three shots behind.
Scheffler made up the difference on Sunday, shooting 67 while Fitzpatrick shot 70. So it was on to a playoff, which Fitzpatrick won with a clutch birdie putt on the first hole.
The $15,000 bet alone cashed for $270,000 profit, for a total payout of $285,000. Add in the other three bets, and the customer’s profit ballooned to $614,648 (total payout $649,001).
Not a bad weekend’s worth of work, if you can afford it.
A couple more RBC big winners:
- $4,000 Fitzpatrick +2100 at DraftKings Sportsbook. The bettor won $84,000.
- $500 Ludvig Åberg +2600 first-round leader, also at DraftKings. The bettor profited $13,000.
The Waiting Game
Nine months ago, a DraftKings Sportsbook customer put together a $21 seven-leg parlay, mostly on futures markets. The ticket was quite diverse, tying the Scottish Open to MLB, NFL, WNBA and even a men’s tennis match.
The final leg: Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg averaging more than 16.9 points per game this season.
The first eight legs were in by early January, when the Eagles won the NFC East. Then came a three-month wait.
That final leg finally became official on April 12, when the NBA regular season ended. Flagg averaged 21 points per game.
At massive odds of +299426 — or just beyond 2994/1 — that modest $21 investment turned into a hefty windfall of $62,900.52.
I’d say that’s worth the wait.
Bettor on a Heater
Last week in this space, it was noted that a Fanatics customer went yard with a four-leg parlay on MLB players to hit home runs. A $500 bet cashed out for a ridiculous $334,076 on April 12.
That’s a very fluky, extremely unlikely hit. As I try to remind regularly: Parlays are a bookmaker’s best friend.
But sometimes, a bettor just gets on a heater.
Over the next two days — last Monday and Tuesday — the same bettor hit big two more times.
The customer first leaned into another homer parlay, nailing that last Monday night. Then the bettor shifted gears to the NBA, with a $1,250 three-leg parlay tied to the Heat-Hornets play-in game.
Monday’s winner, at odds of +8130, profited a healthy $101,631.25 (total payout $102,881.25). Tuesday’s payday netted $62,343.75 in profit (total payout $63,593.75).
The grand total for three days: $3,000 in bets, $497,551.48 in profit. Ostensibly half a million dollars.
Just unprecedented.
Here’s Hoping You Had It
It’s not all about making huge wagers to land huge payoffs. Just putting 10 bucks on something with odds of, say, +2000 can put a couple hundred dollars in your pocket.
Or perhaps quite a bit more than that, if you were prescient to anticipate a bunch of homers in last Monday’s Angels-Yankees showdown, along with the Diamondbacks’ Nolan Arenado going yard twice.
A $10 bet on the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Angels’ Mike Trout to have two or more homers, in New York’s 11-10 victory, along with Arenado homering twice, would have you now sitting on more than $200,000.
Play-In Payouts
Last week’s NBA play-in games saw a couple big winners at Fanatics, both on Wednesday night. The bigger bet: A $10,000 in-game play on Warriors moneyline +475 vs. Clippers.
Late in the third quarter, Golden State trailed 89-78 on the road. At about that time, the bettor fired away, hoping for a Warriors rally.
Steph Curry and Al Horford then made it reality. Curry finished with 35 points, including a key late 3-pointer, his seventh triple of the game. And Horford hit four 3-pointers in the final period of the Warriors’ 126-121 victory.
So in ostensibly one quarter of an NBA game, the bettor’s $10,000 netted $47,500 profit (total payout $57,500).
On the flip side, a much smaller bet landed a much bigger win, although it was on an 11-leg parlay with much steeper odds.
The customer put $100 on a batch of MLB, NHL and NBA moneylines. The final leg: 76ers -125 vs. Magic. Philadelphia pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 109-97 victory.
At odds of +89655, just shy of 897/1, including a 10% profit boost promotion, the bettor bagged a payout of $89,755.
To reiterate, though: Bookmakers love parlay bets. The more legs, the better. Just keep that in mind, and accordingly, keep your bet size and expectations reasonable.
