Bettors who got involved with any element of the Giants-Broncos zaniness on Sunday deserved some sort of reward at the end.
Sitting on that roller-coaster merits some payback when the ride stops.
But sports betting is gambling, so it doesn’t always work that way. Still, there were some interesting winners in the wake of Denver’s stunning 33-32 comeback victory.
How about placing a $10 in-game wager in the final two minutes of that chaos, and having it turn into more than $1,000 in that short window?
More on that bet, along with major wagers and profitable parlays in NFL and college football betting this past weekend.
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Throwing Darts
You’ve probably seen and read all about it by now, but it’s still worth a recap.
The Giants led the Broncos 19-0 through three quarters and were up 26-8 with 10:14 left in the game.
At DraftKings Sportsbook, the Broncos’ odds of winning got as high as +6000, meaning a $100 bet would collect $6,000 in the improbable event of a comeback.
But come back, Denver did.
Bo Nix and the Broncos scored the next 22 points, capped by a Nix 18-yard touchdown run to take a 30-26 lead with 1:51 remaining.
The Giants looked cooked.
But a DraftKings customer thought that was an opportune time to make an unusual wager: $10 on Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart to score a touchdown, at odds of +11000 (110/1).
Sure enough — aided by a couple huge Broncos penalties — Dart dove in from the 1-yard line to put New York up 32-30 with 37 seconds remaining. And the bettor banked $1,100 profit (total payout $1,110) in just 1:14 of game time.
Denver then finished off the pandemonium with a Will Lutz 39-yard field goal to win it 33-32, which takes us back to those Broncos +6000 odds.
Another DK customer decided, “What the hell,” and jumped on in with all of 50 cents:
Sure, at 60/1, the customer only won 30 bucks. But you’ve gotta love that ROI.
Another notable, though not as far-fetched bet landed pregame at FanDuel Sportsbook. The customer put $50 on a three-leg anytime touchdown parlay of Nix, Dart and Giants running back Cam Skattebo.
Skattebo hit paydirt in the second quarter, giving New York a 13-0 lead. But the other two legs were a sweat. Nix had a 7-yard TD run with 5:13 remaining in the fourth quarter, pulling Denver within 26-16. Then, as noted above, Dart’s TD came on the penultimate drive of the wild game.
At odds of +4285, or about 43/1, the bettor’s $50 turned into $2,192.73.
Parlay Partay
OK, this one is almost impossible to top.
At some point early last week, a Caesars Sports customer put $50 on the following six-leg player-prop parlay, mixing MLB playoffs with the Thursday night Steelers-Bengals game:
- Dodgers’ Max Muncy +500 to homer in Tuesday’s Game 2 vs. Brewers
- Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez +475 to homer in Game 2 vs. Brewers
- Mariners’ Randy Arozarena +525 to homer in Wednesday’s Game 3 vs. Blue Jays
- Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. +390 to homer in Game 3 vs. Mariners
- Steelers’ Jonnu Smith anytime touchdown +340 vs. Bengals
- Bengals’ Tee Higgins anytime touchdown +215 vs. Steelers
All the above happened, and Thursday night wasn’t even much of a sweat. Smith found the end zone less than five minutes into the game, and Higgins scored late in the second quarter of Cincy’s 33-31 upset win.
The prize for this bettor’s efforts: A whopping $574,925. More than half-a-million dollars on a $50 flier bet.
Getting Defensive
Defensive and special teams touchdowns don’t happen too often. Stringing together successful parlays for such an occurrence is even rarer.
But one DraftKings customer got there on a $10 three-legger:
- Browns defensive/special teams TD
- Eagles defensive/special teams TD
- Patriots defensive/special teams TD
On the first play of the second half in Cleveland’s 31-6 rout of Miami, Browns cornerback Tyson Campbell returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown. Philadelphia linebacker Jalyx Hunt had a 42-yard INT touchdown in the second quarter of a 28-22 win over Minnesota.
New England capped the wager when linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson scooped up a Cam Ward fumble and went four yards for the TD, the final score in the Patriots’ 31-13 victory.
At odds of +18875, or almost 189/1, that 10 bucks became nearly $1,900.
Parlay Partay, Part II
The public betting masses still love their moneyline parlays, lining up a batch of favorites to just win outright and hopefully turn a little money into a significant amount of money.
But with the proliferation of player prop bets in the NFL, the public also revels in stringing together a bunch of anytime touchdown scorers.
One DraftKings customer stretched a 10-leg parlay out all day, starting with Sunday’s Rams-Jaguars game in London and ending with the Falcons-49ers Sunday nighter in San Francisco.
Going into Sunday night, the first eight legs were in. All the bettor needed was a TD apiece from Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson and San Fran running back Christian McCaffrey.
That’s a pretty good position to be in.
Late in the second quarter, McCaffrey scored the first of his two touchdowns. Midway through the third quarter, Robinson hit paydirt.
The $10 wager had hefty odds of +62012 — about 620/1 — but the customer also utilized a 33% parlay boost, taking the odds out to +82476 — about 825/1.
When ten bucks becomes $8,257, you know you’re having a great day.
Here’s Hoping You Had It
It’s not all about making big bets or cashing out huge on 10-leg parlays — which, just to be clear, is rare. Sometimes it’s about putting 10 bucks on a single straight bet, backing a long shot or semi-long shot, and getting brilliant ROI.
How about rolling out of bed for Sunday’s Rams-Jags tilt in London and deciding to put $10 on someone with one career reception to score the first touchdown of that game? A FanDuel customer apparently did just that.
Rams wideout Konata Mumpfield was +7500 (75/1) to score the first TD. Midway through the first quarter, Mumpfield did so on a 5-yard pass from Matthew Stafford.
A meager 10 dollars turned into $750 profit.
Mumpfield’s teammate Davante Adams had himself a day as well, scoring three touchdowns in L.A.’s 35-7 rout. Adams was +3000 to score three or more TDs.
If you’d put a tenner on that prop, then you’d have scored $300. Or maybe put a hundred on it to cash out for $3,000.
I Like Big Bets and I Cannot Lie
High-rollers in Vegas and around the country were throwing around big-dollar bets all weekend long. There are definitely far too many wagers to recount.
But let’s review a few, starting in NFL Week 7 odds, on which Caesars Sports in particular took some seriously major wagers:
- $339,000 Rams-Jaguars Over 44.5 points (Caesars). Los Angeles did its part, putting up 35 points. But Jacksonville was a near no-show, scoring just one touchdown. L.A. won 35-7, and the bettor made a massive six-figure donation to the house. Oof.
- $330,000 Cowboys -1.5 vs. Commanders (Caesars). Dallas rolled to a 44-22 victory, and the bettor claimed $300,000 profit (total payout $630,000).
- $275,000 Browns -2.5 vs. Dolphins (Caesars). Another rout, as Cleveland won 31-6, giving the bettor a $250,000 win (total payout $525,000).
- $260,000 Chiefs -12.5 vs. Raiders (Caesars). Yet another blowout. K.C. wins 31-0, and the bettor banks $236,363.64 (total payout $496,363.64).
- $200,000 Saints +4.5 vs. Bears (DraftKings). That’s another big donation, as New Orleans loses 26-14.
- $200,000 Falcons-49ers Over 46.5 points (DraftKings). The Over was never threatened in this game, with San Fran winning 20-10 and the bettor taking a $200,000 bath.
- $175,000 Colts +2.5 (-108) vs. Rams (DraftKings). Surprising Indianapolis wins 38-24, and the bettor profits $162,032.50 (total payout $337,032.50).
College football Week 8 odds saw its share of major wagers, as well, including:
- $100,000 Louisville +10.5 (-112) vs. Miami (DraftKings). This customer would probably like to change that wager to a Louisville moneyline bet, as the Cardinals upset the Hurricanes 24-21. Still, the bettor profited $89,285.71 (total payout $189,285.71).
- $100,000 Duke -2.5 (-115) vs. Georgia Tech (DraftKings). The Blue Devils were short home favorites, but lost outright 27-18.
- $100,000 South Carolina +4.5 vs. Oklahoma. The Gamecocks weren’t very game, losing 26-7.
Then there are those bettors who don’t mind betting a lot to win a little on huge moneyline favorites. For example, a Caesars customer put $35,000 on Ohio State moneyline -4500 vs. Wisconsin.
As the odds would indicate, it was an easy night for the Buckeyes, who won 34-0. And the bettor won all of $777.78. That’s 2.2% profit.
But apparently it was enough.
On the flip side, Miami wasn’t nearly as big a favorite vs. Louisville. Still, at -550 on the moneyline, the Hurricanes were at least expected to win the game, at home.
So another Caesars customer put $88,451.61 — yes, 61 cents, too — on Miami moneyline, for a potential win of $16,082.11. But the unbeaten and second-ranked Hurricanes never led in a 24-21 upset loss.
That’s an expensive lesson to learn. Keep in mind that these high-rollers have the means to afford such lessons. Keep your wagers and your expectations 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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