There’s a long-held cliché in sports betting, and it’s long-held because it’s true: Parlays are a bookmaker’s best friend.
If you could access any sportsbook’s balance sheet, then you’d see the proof. On parlays, the win percentage for the house is huge.
But that’s not to say a customer doesn’t come through with the occasional big win … or, massive win.
For example: A Hard Rock Bet customer turned pizza money into more than $800,000 on Saturday.
More on that wager, other profitable parlays and big bets as we recap NFL and college football betting this past weekend.
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Parlay Partay
When you’re stringing together a 17-leg parlay, you’re not thinking it’s going to win. Or at least you shouldn’t be.
Treat that like the lottery ticket it is.
At 7:06 a.m. ET Saturday, a Hard Rock customer punched in just such a parlay, all on either college football point spreads or game totals. And the bettor spread it all across the country, including the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12, Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences.
Amount bet: $15. The odds: A mountainous +5623171, or in easier-to-digest terms, a little over 56,000/1.
As you might expect with a 17-leg bet, there were several close calls. Among them:
- Indiana–Penn State Over 49.5. An insanely acrobatic touchdown in the final minute gave the Hoosiers a 27-24 win — and secured the Over.
- Alabama -10.5 vs. LSU: The Crimson Tide got a late field goal to win 20-9, covering the spread by half a point.
- Florida–Kentucky Over 44.5: The Wildcats did all the work, winning 38-7 as the Over hit by half a point.
Then there were these two legs: Syracuse +28.5 vs. Miami, and Vanderbilt -6.5 vs. Auburn.
Syracuse trailed 38-3 but scored a touchdown with just 21 seconds left, losing by 28 (38-10) but covering the number by half a point.
Vandy gave up a touchdown with 5:27 remaining in the fourth quarter, which tied the game at 38 and ultimately sent it to overtime. The Commodores got the ball first and scored a TD and the uber-critical extra point, then stopped Auburn to win 45-38.
Another cover by half a point.
That’s the kind of luck it takes to turn 15 bucks into … $843,475.72, as verified by a Hard Rock Bet representative Monday morning.
When all was said and done on all 17 games involved, it was 11:33 p.m. ET Saturday. Not a bad payday for a 16.5-hour wait.
Parlay Partay II
At DraftKings Sportsbook, a customer used a $10 bonus bet — ostensibly a free ride — to compile a 13-leg parlay of almost exclusively anytime touchdown scorers. Oh, and Daniel Jones to have 250 or more passing yards.
All 12 touchdown scorers came through. And Indiana Jones just barely got there in the Colts’ 31-25 overtime victory over the Falcons in Sunday’s first game, from Berlin, Germany.
That overtime period is what allowed Jones to clear 250 yards, on a 33-yard pass to Tyler Warren. That gave the Indianapolis QB 255 passing yards.
The wager had huge odds of +2009826, or in easier-to-read terms, just over 20,098/1. So that bonus bet of not real money became $200,982.66 in real American cash.
Keep It Simple
Jonathan Taylor and Jahmyr Gibbs are two of the NFL’s top running backs. Taylor might even be making a case for MVP, with the season he’s having for the Colts.
So why not take those two to stack up a bunch of touchdowns, on a two-leg parlay?
A FanDuel Sportsbook customer did just that, putting $10 on Taylor to score three or more TDs vs. the Falcons, and the Lions’ Gibbs to do likewise against the Commanders.
Taylor needed overtime to get there, but recorded his third TD on an 8-yard run that gave Indianapolis a 31-25 victory. Gibbs didn’t provide as much of a sweat, scoring his third TD early in the fourth quarter.
At odds of +15900 (159/1), the bettor turned ten bucks into $1,590 profit (total payout $1,600).
Let It Ride?
Another FanDuel customer is heading for a Monday night sweat. The bettor essentially put pocket change — $3.06 — on a five-leg parlay of players to score the first touchdown.
The first four legs got there on Sunday’s NFL slate. Now, the bettor just needs Saquon Barkley to score the first TD tonight in the Eagles’ road game vs. the Packers.
If that happens — and if the customer doesn’t decide to cash out first, for $2,248.56 — then that three dollars turns into a ridiculous $25,777.44.
Also, at FanDuel, a mere $2 parlay on four first-TD scorers got there Sunday night. It took almost the entire first half for Steelers–Chargers to see a touchdown, but L.A. wideout Ladd McConkey found paydirt with 12 seconds left in the second quarter.
That clinched the ticket, as two dollars became $4,071.60.
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 solid ROI.
If you believed Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart would find the end zone more than once Sunday, then you got a nice little payout. Dart had a 3-yard TD run in the second quarter and a 24-yard score in the third quarter of New York’s 24-20 loss to the Bears.
At FanDuel, Dart was +1700 to score two or more touchdowns. So a $10 bet would profit $170. Or if you got a little friskier and put $100 on it, you’d be up $1,700.
Bet Big, Win Small
There’s been a trend this season, particularly in college football, of big bettors placing moneyline wagers on hefty favorites. That happened again in college football Week 11 odds.
On the point spread, Notre Dame was more than a four-touchdown favorite vs. Navy on Saturday. That correlated to moneyline odds of -5000, for the Fighting Irish to simply just win the game, regardless of final margin.
Those odds mean it takes a $5,000 bet to win $100. At DraftKings, a customer opted to wager much more than that, putting $250,000 on the Irish.
No surprise, Notre Dame rumbled to a 49-10 victory. And the bettor profited all of … $5,000, for a total payout of $255,000.
Bad Beat/Cardiac Cover
Entering the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Jaguars–Texans game, Jacksonville was comfortably ahead 29-10. It didn’t get so comfortable for Jags point-spread bettors over the final 15 minutes.
Houston rallied for three touchdowns, taking a 30-29 lead on backup QB Davis Mills’ 14-yard run with 31 seconds left.
But if you took Jacksonville +1.5 on the spread, then you were still good, covering by half a point. That is, until Jags QB Trevor Lawrence fumbled on the game’s final play.
Texans defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins grabbed the ball midair and ran 32 yards for a touchdown. And there goes your Jags +1.5 ticket, with Houston winning and covering, 36-29.
Ouch.
Halftime Happiness
Sweating a bet is certainly fun when you win. Not so much when you don’t. A better alternative is not sweating at all and still winning.
A FanDuel customer got just that Sunday, parlaying five anytime touchdown scorers — all playing games in the early window — and having all five hit paydirt before halftime.
Better still: The bettor wagered $50 at odds of +48629, then utilized a 25% profit boost to take the odds out to +60791, or about 608/1. So the bettor turned a healthy profit of $30,395.69 (total payout $30,445.69).
I Like Big Bets and I Cannot Lie
Major wagers landed all weekend long on NFL Week 10 odds and college football Week 11 odds. That $250,000 Notre Dame wager was the largest reported play.
Other notable big plays from the high-roller set:
- $100,000 Texas Tech moneyline -395 vs. BYU (DraftKings). The Red Raiders were solid favorites and played like it in a 29-7 rout. So the bettor profited $25,316.46 (total payout $125,316.46).
- $60,000 Falcons moneyline +270 vs. Colts (DraftKings). Atlanta got this bettor on the brink of a $162,000 win, but lost 31-25 in overtime.
- $60,000 Raiders moneyline +400 vs. Broncos (DraftKings). Las Vegas nearly pulled off a huge Thursday night upset, but fell short 10-7.
- $50,000 Tulane moneyline +145 vs. Memphis. The Green Wave notched a 38-32 road upset, and the bettor won $72,500 (total payout $122,500).
These major wagers come with the usual reminder: High-rollers can afford to make big bets and more importantly, can afford to lose such plays.
Keep your wagers and your expectations reasonable. Enjoy Eagles-Packers on Monday night.
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 X: @PatrickE_Vegas.
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