When the Patriots shot out to a 21-0 lead over the Bills, Boston tech entrepreneur Evan Loring had to be feeling pretty good.
When the Pats still led 24-7 at halftime, he probably felt even better.
And thanks to a promise Loring made that was tied to his seven-figure Patriots moneyline bet, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals probably felt awesome.
But when Josh Allen is involved, it’s always too early to start counting your money.
Loring and the MSPCA — and a boatload of New England bettors/fans — learned that the hard way in NFL Week 15 odds.
More on that major wager gone awry, a speedy player prop payout, along with fun parlays and big bets, as we recap NFL and college football betting this past weekend.
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$1,000,000 Donation
On Thursday, Fanatics Sportsbook sent out a news release on Loring’s bet: $1.05 million on Patriots moneyline -105, for a potential profit of $1 million.
The release noted that if Loring won his bet, then he’d donate half the winnings — $500,000 — to the MSPCA.
By the end of the first quarter, New England was up 14-0 on a pair of Drake Maye touchdown runs. With 5:53 left in the second quarter, TreVeyon Henderson bolted 52 yards for another touchdown to make it 21-0, and it appeared the rout was on.
The Bills got a James Cook TD catch to make it 21-7, but the Patriots responded with a field goal as the first half ended to take a 24-7 lead.
New England was in complete control … until it wasn’t.
Buffalo scored the next 21 points to take a 28-24 lead, turning a blowout into a shootout. Henderson then helped the Pats get off the mat with a 65-yard touchdown jaunt, as New England regained the lead at 31-28.
But Allen followed by leading a 65-yard scoring drive, capped by a Cook 11-yard run, his third touchdown of the day. And in a game full of scoring, somehow there were no points in the final 6:48.
So the Bills won 35-31. Oh, and covered the spread as 2.5-point road favorites.
Fanatics indicated that, win or lose, Loring would still make a personal donation to the MSPCA, at a to-be-determined amount.
Sounds like it won’t be half-a-mill though.
Maye Day
Speaking of the Bills vs. Patriots showdown: A FanDuel Sportsbook customer foresaw a big day from Drake Maye — though maybe not quite so quickly.
The bettor put $100 on Maye to score two or more touchdowns, at odds of +5000.
Less than five minutes into the game, Maye ran it in from eight yards out to put the Patriots up 7-0. Then, in the waning seconds of the first quarter, Maye had a 7-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
Bang. That was it. A hundred-dollar bet becomes $5,000 profit in less than 15 minutes of game time. If only it were always that easy.
Ham It Up
With plenty of name-brand players in Sunday night’s Vikings–Cowboys tilt — CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Dak Prescott, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison et al — you could forgive bettors who didn’t give a second thought to Minnesota fullback C.J. Ham.
They probably wish they had now.
Ham has played in eight games this season. In the previous seven, he didn’t have a single carry. So FanDuel Sportsbook had the ninth-year player as a +10000 long shot (100/1) to score a touchdown vs. Dallas.
Late in the third quarter, on his first carry of the year, Ham plowed in from a yard out to give the Vikes a 24-23 lead. Minnesota went on to post a 34-26 upset as 5-point road underdogs.
Any bettor who got on that Ham TD prop also pulled off an upset. A $100 bet would’ve netted $10,000.
Which brings us to this week’s edition of …
Here’s Hoping You Had It
It’s not all about making big bets or cashing out huge on a 10-leg parlay. Which, just to be clear, is rare. Always keep that firmly in mind.
Sometimes, it’s about putting 10 bucks on a single straight bet, backing a long shot or semi-long shot, and getting a solid return on investment.
Ham was probably the best example in Week 15. But there were others who paid nice dividends.
In Thursday’s Falcons–Buccaneers meeting, Kyle Pitts was +8000 to score three or more touchdowns. The tight end delivered a three-TD performance, helping Atlanta rally for a 29-28 road upset.
And someone actually had it at Fanatics, putting $100 on that player prop to bank $8,000 in profit (total payout $8,100).
In that same game, Atlanta trailed 28-14 early in the fourth quarter, at which point you could’ve gotten +2000 odds on the Falcons to win the game. A hundred bucks there — while generally not advisable — would’ve netted $2,000 profit.
In the Ravens–Bengals matchup, Baltimore third-string running back Rasheen Ali was +4500 to score the first TD.
It took a while for the Ravens to get going, but Ali made it 7-0 on a 30-yard catch-and-run to put Baltimore up 7-0 late with 4:35 left in the second quarter.
If you’d put 10 bucks on that, you’d be sitting on a wallet with an extra $450 in it today. If you got frisky and put $100 on Ali, then you’d have a healthy $4,500 profit.
At Caesars Sports, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was +1600 to score the first TD of the game against the Chargers. Six minutes into the first quarter, Mahomes ran it in from 12 yards out.
A tenner on that would’ve netted $160. Or $1,600 if you made a $100 wager.
Parlay Partay
At Fanatics Sportsbook, a customer nicely gamed out the Jets–Jaguars game. The bettor put $100 on a five-leg parlay:
- Jaguars -13.5 (-115)
- Over 41 points (-110)
- Jags running back Bhayshul Tuten +285 anytime touchdown
- Jets wideout Adonai Mitchell +400 anytime touchdown
- Jags wideout Brian Thomas Jr. +190 anytime touchdown
Add up all these odds, and also you arrive at +11000, or 110/1. However the buyer additionally utilized a 20% revenue increase promotion, mountain climbing the percentages to +13200 (132/1).
The primary two legs had been no sweat in any respect. Jacksonville beat the full by itself and simply lined the unfold in a 48-20 blowout.
The final three legs didn’t require extra antiperspirant, both. Tuten, Mitchell and Thomas all discovered the tip zone by the primary minute of the second quarter.
In order that $100 changed into an incredible ROI payout of $13,300.
Additionally at Fanatics, for Thursday’s Falcons-Bucs sport, a bettor strung collectively a 16-leg parlay. Thoughts you, these virtually by no means hit. The percentages of +30000 (300/1) suggest as a lot.
However by some means, each leg of this mini-lottery ticket got here by way of:
That allowed $25 to evolve into $7,525. Properly executed.
Campus Money-Out
Bets with ties to Indiana are having a reasonably good run this season. That features a couple noteworthy wagers on quarterback Fernando Mendoza in Heisman Trophy odds.
On Saturday night time in NY city, Mendoza received the award. In some unspecified time in the future months in the past, when Mendoza was a +10000 lengthy shot (100/1) to assert the person honor, a DraftKings Sportsbook buyer wagered $1,000 at these odds.
Now, that bettor is sitting on a $100,000 win.
At Circa Sports activities in Las Vegas, a buyer put $100 on Mendoza at even longer odds of +15000 (150/1), for a wager made on Aug. 28. That bettor cleaned up for 15 grand.
Additionally, months in the past, a FanDuel buyer put collectively a four-leg Indiana futures parlay, wagering a mere $15 on:
- Indiana to go undefeated in the regular season
- Indiana to win the Big Ten
- Indiana to make the College Football Playoff
- Indiana to win the CFP
All that is still is the ultimate leg, on a parlay with odds of +36627, or simply past 366/1. If the top-seeded Hoosiers win all of it, then the bettor’s 15 bucks turn out to be $5,509.11.
I Like Huge Bets and I Can’t Lie
Main wagers landed from Thursday by way of Sunday on NFL Week 15 odds. As famous above, the most important wager was an enormous loser, as $1.05 million on Patriots moneyline went up in smoke after the Payments’ massive comeback.
Different notable wagers over the previous few days:
- $200,000 Giants -2.5 vs. Commanders (DraftKings). New York never even led in a 29-21 loss. So that’s another big donation to the house.
- $111,000 Rams -6 (-111) vs. Lions (Caesars). Los Angeles narrowly covered that spread in a 41-34 victory. The bettor profited $100,000 (total payout $211,000).
- $94,725.81 Patriots moneyline +103 vs. Bills (Caesars). We all know how that played out. That’s a high-five-figure loser.
- $50,000 Bucs -5.5 vs. Falcons (DraftKings). Tampa Bay blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and lost 29-28. Ouch.
- $40,000 Vikings moneyline +220 vs. Cowboys (DraftKings). Minnesota indeed got the outright upset, 34-26. So the bettor banked an $88,000 win (total payout $128,000).
- $40,000 Lions moneyline +205 vs. Rams. Detroit failed to pull the upset.
There have been additionally a pair noteworthy bets backing Old Man Rivers and the Colts in Sunday’s highway sport vs. the Seahawks. Indy was an almost two-touchdown underdog and, correspondingly, was an enormous moneyline underdog to win the sport outright.
The Philip Rivers storyline made that moneyline extra enticing. Caesars took a $25,000 Colts moneyline +525 wager, and DraftKings took a $10,000 Colts moneyline play at even higher odds for the client, +700.
Each bets practically bought there — for potential income of $131,250 and $70,000, respectively — in what would’ve been a storybook kind of sport.
Alas, Rivers and the Colts misplaced 18-16 on a subject aim with 18 seconds left.
Which makes this an excellent time to remind you that sports activities betting usually doesn’t have storybook endings. So preserve your expectations and your wager dimension cheap.
Patrick Everson is a sports activities betting analyst for FOX Sports activities and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He’s a distinguished journalist within the nationwide sports activities betting area. He’s primarily based in Las Vegas, the place he enjoys {golfing} in 110-degree warmth. Observe him on X: @PatrickE_Vegas.
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