The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is about to reach its end, and while I was extremely disappointed that my highly-ranked Virginia Cavaliers bowed out early, it has still been fun rooting against all the teams I hate (and I have come to realize I loathe a good number of teams – yay sports!). With March Madness, of course, comes sports betting, both of the bracket pool variety and your good, old traditional money line and spread variety. Fun times. Many people dump wads of cash on the games, but one man, in particular, stands to win a small fortune if things go his way this weekend.
According to ESPN.com, Derek Stevens, owner of the D and Golden Gate hotels in downtown Las Vegas, will win one million dollars if the Michigan State Spartans, led by famed coach Tom Izzo, can get past Duke in the national semi-finals and then either Wisconsin or Kentucky (probably Kentucky) in the finals. What makes it doubly interesting is should he win, he would also hurt his competitor.
Stevens likes to bet on sports, but Nevada gaming regulations do not allow him to place bets at his own casino, so he frequently visits the neighboring Golden Nugget when he wants some action. A University of Michigan alum who also roots for Michigan State (I know, I know), Stevens decided to go much bigger than he normally does and told the Golden Nugget sportsbook director and friend, Tony Miller, that he wanted to bet on the Spartans to win it all, but the catch was that if he won, he wanted it to be a million dollar victory.
The thing is, he did not propose the bet this week, after Michigan State made the Final Four. He proposed it on December 5th, when the team was coming off two consecutive losses and were just 5-3 overall. Granted, the losses were to Duke, Kansas, and Notre Dame, three of the best teams in the country, but considering those were also the only good teams Michigan State had played to that point, a national title didn’t look too likely. Miller was hesitant to take the bet because if Stevens were to win, it would be a huge loss for the Golden Nugget, so he checked with the owner of the casino, who approved it.
Miller gave Stevens the going odds on Michigan State winning the championship, 50-to-1, so the bet had to be $20,000 to win a million (plus the original bet). “In my nine years at this sportsbook, I never accepted a bet that could result in us paying $1 million,” Miller told ESPN.com. “The most I’ve ever seen won here was a $100,000 parlay.”
Stevens also said that this is way out of the ordinary for him, as the most he has ever put down on a game is $1,000.
He has yet to decide if he is going to hedge his bet, which would likely be a good idea. Hedging is placing an opposing bet to guarantee a profit, even with a loss on the original bet. Without going into specifics on the current odds, Stevens could bet on Duke in the semi-final in an amount big enough to win him more than $20,000 should Duke beat Michigan State, guaranteeing that he still comes out ahead no matter the result. He could also place a combination of bets on the eventual champion that would win him more than he stands to lose if Michigan State gets bounced. If Stevens does hedge and Michigan State wins the title, he would lose the hedge bets, but still win the million dollars on the original bet.
As for what he will do with the money if he wins, Stevens said, “If I win, I’ll give some bonus money to my employees. I also want to give some money to the [Jerry] Tarkanian Basketball Academy, and the rest I will reinvest in my properties.”