Just need all of them to win, no problem
I have had a great sports year. My Milwaukee Bucks won their first NBA championship in my lifetime, my Milwaukee Brewers are on the cusp of a division title, and my college has won multiple team and individual national titles. My Green Bay Packers are one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl, though they have looked a little shaky so far in this young season, perhaps why one BetMGM customer had them losing as part of a 16-leg parlay over the weekend. The bettor risked $25 on the parlay to win $736,959 and spoiler alert, pinning your hopes on the biggest underdog of the season doesn’t typically work out.
According to CBS Sports, it all came down to the Monday Night Football game between the Packers and the Detroit Lions.
The bettor had already won the following 15 legs of the parlay, in rough chronological order (team moneyline in parentheses):
Washington (-175), Bears (-130), Browns (-650), Rams (-190), Bills (-175), Patriots (-250), 49ers (-160), Raiders (+190), Panthers (+150), Broncos (-275), Cardinals (-190), Buccaneers (-650), Cowboys (+135), Titans (+190), and Ravens (+180)
As you can see, it was a mix of favorites and underdogs. None of the upsets were extraordinarily shocking, though some were fairly bold picks. A few of the games came down to last-second field goals, but parlays are no fun without a major sweat at the end, right?
You were counting on Detroit?
And then there was the Monday Night Football game. Detroit was a gigantic underdog going into the first Green Bay home game of the season. The Lions were +400 on the moneyline, which is what this bettor went with, and +11 by the point spread, depending on where and when you looked.
Normally, there should be no hope. The person got 15 games right and it game down to this one, the least likely of the bunch. The Lions are horrible and on the road against the team, led by future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, that led the league in scoring last year.
But the Packers were craptastic in Week 1. They couldn’t do anything right. And while the Lions lost, they made a spirited fourth quarter comeback against a good team in the San Francisco 49ers, so maybe there was a chance?
The bettor’s hopes likely got even higher when the Lions got off to a strong start, looking every bit the professional football team through the first half. At half, they even led, 17-14. But in the second half, they turned back into a pumpkin and became the Lions again. They didn’t score a single point in the final two quarters and lost, 35-17.
I’m not sad this person lost his bet, as if he did, it would have meant my team lost. But boy, I hope two things: 1) having the Lions as part of the parlay instead of the Packers made a huge difference in the potential payout, and 2) the bettor put a big wager on the Packers as a hedge.
