Sunday night’s score-fest between the Bears and 49ers certainly left a scar on sportsbooks, as the public betting masses cleaned up via same-game parlays and player prop bets.
But some scars were bigger than others.
Take Fanatics Sportsbook, for one of many examples. A customer there put $2,000 on a five-leg player-prop parlay, and by game’s end scored a nearly $160,000 win.
More on that huge coup, a million-dollar Circa Survivor hedge bet, and other major wagers and fun parlay payouts, as we recap NFL and college football betting this past weekend.
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Parlay Partay
First off, let’s recognize that most of us don’t have $2,000 sitting around, just waiting for the opportunity to dump it into an NFL wager. And even if we had such spare cash, dropping it on a five-leg parlay is not the best idea.
As the cliché goes: Parlays are a bookmaker’s best friend. And the more legs a bettor adds, the more friendly it becomes to bookmakers.
Now, with that cleared up, it’s still impressive and noteworthy when such plays produce big winners.
Ahead of Sunday night’s Bears vs. 49ers matchup, the aforementioned Fanatics customer strung this together:
- 49ers wideout Ricky Pearsall four or more receptions +115
- 49ers QB Brock Purdy Over 10.5 rushing yards -175
- Bears wideout Jahdae Walker 20 or more receiving yards +145
- Bears tight end Colston Loveland anytime touchdown +215
- 49ers wideout Jauan Jennings anytime touchdown +130
Add that all up, and the odds work out to +5897, or just shy of 59/1. But the bettor also utilized a 33% profit boost promotion, hiking the odds to +7843, about 78.5/1.
On San Fran’s side, Pearsall got there with five receptions, and Purdy ran for 28 yards. On Chicago’s side, Walker had 30 receiving yards and Loveland scored a second-quarter touchdown.
The sweat of the night came from Jennings. In a game featuring 12 touchdowns, he scored the last one with 2:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, helping the Niners secure a 42-38 victory.
He also gave the bettor a whopping profit of $156,860 (total payout $158,860).
Living on the Hedge
Some of you might be familiar with Circa Survivor, the huge NFL contest put on each year by Circa Sports in Las Vegas. But just in case, here’s a quick primer: It’s $1,000 per entry, 10 entries max, and this year’s field attracted a record 18,718 entries.
That makes the pot a massive $18.718 million.
Week 17 is actually broken into two weeks: Week 17a, in which contestants must submit a pick from one of the three Christmas Day games; and Week 17b, requiring a pick from the Saturday/Sunday/Monday slate.
For Week 17a, the Cowboys were the wisest pick, if still available. But of the 10 remaining contestants, five didn’t have Dallas available, nor did they have the Lions or Broncos.
One of those five made this savvy maneuver: Picking the Vikings to upset the Lions, then placing a monster $1.181 million bet on Cowboys moneyline -440 vs. the Commanders.
The customer was attempting to lock in as much profit as possible, with a huge hedge bet, in case the Survivor pick failed.
But Minnesota indeed pulled off the upset, 23-10. And the Cowboys won 30-23. So the Survivor contestant not only advanced, but profited $268,409.09 on the Cowboys hedge wager.
The Jake Earthquake
The 49ers were without star tight end George Kittle on Sunday night. That made fellow Niners tight end Jake Tonges even more important, and he paid off, both for the team and bettors.
In a much more relatable wager, a Fanatics customer crafted a $50 five-leg parlay of anytime touchdown scorers — all tight ends, spread throughout Sunday’s schedule.
All five delivered, with Tonges clinching the wager on a first-quarter touchdown vs. the Bears.
At healthy odds of +41074 — or about 411/1 — the bettor’s 50 bucks turned into $20,587.29.
In a much less relatable wager, another Fanatics customer put $5,000 on a four-leg same-game parlay in the Bears-49ers matchup, leaning mostly into the San Fran tight end:
All four legs connected, and at odds of +2100, the bettor bagged $105,000 in profit (total payout $110,000).
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.
For example: At FanDuel Sportsbook, Chiefs running back Brashard Smith was a lengthy +8000 to score the first touchdown of Thursday’s game vs. the Broncos.
It took until the second quarter for either team to score a TD, but Smith broke through on a 5-yard catch.
If you’d tossed 10 bucks on that, then you’d have bagged $800 profit. If you got frisky and put $100 on it, then you’d have won $8,000.
And if you took a shot on Smith via in-game wagering — as at least one FanDuel customer did — the payout was even better.
Smith’s TD came on the Chiefs’ second drive. Just before that possession, a bettor put $50 on the drive ending with a Smith touchdown, at odds of +12500 (125/1).
The drive lasted 5:04. That’s about as fast as anyone turned $50 into $6,300.
Finally, we just can’t stop going back to the wild Bears-49ers game. The first score actually came on the first play from scrimmage.
Chicago linebacker T.J. Edwards picked off a Brock Purdy pass and ran it in for a touchdown.
At FanDuel, on the prop bet of who scores the first TD, a defensive score was +4000. A tenner on that would’ve netted a very quick $400. Or $4,000 if you plunked $100 on it.
Crystal Ball
Through 10 games this season, the Colts were 8-2 and seemed prime for the playoffs. But in Week 14, QB Daniel Jones tore an Achilles, ruining the year.
Indianapolis lost that game to Jacksonville, for a third consecutive defeat. And the losing streak is now up to six games, despite the heroics of 44-year-old Philip Rivers, who came out of retirement to try to save the Colts’ season.
But back when Indy was 8-2, a Fanatics customer prudently bet $150 on Colts +925 to miss the playoffs. That wager is now a winner, with $150 evolving into $1,537.50.
I Like Big Bets and I Cannot Lie
Major wagers landed from Thursday through Sunday on NFL Week 17 odds and college football bowl odds. Most notable among them was the aforementioned $1.181 million moneyline winner on the Cowboys.
Other notable bets:
- $100,000 Eagles moneyline +140 vs. Bills (Caesars Sports). Philadelphia escaped Buffalo with a 13-12 victory, and the bettor profited $140,000 (total payout $240,000).
- $100,000 Steelers moneyline -193 vs. Browns (Caesars). Pittsburgh wasn’t as fortunate, managing just two second-quarter field goals in a 13-6 road loss. So that’s a six-figure donation to the house.
- $60,000 Chiefs +13.5 vs. Broncos (DraftKings). Kansas City was in it the whole game and easily covered in a 20-13 home loss. The bettor nabbed $54,545.45 in profit (total payout $114,545.45).
- $50,000 Penn State +2.5 (-105) vs. Clemson (DraftKings). The Nittany Lions won the Pinstripe Bowl 22-10, and the bettor won $47,619.05 (total payout $97,619.05).
- $40,000 Texans moneyline +100 vs. Chargers (Caesars). Houston notched a 20-16 road win, and the bettor scored $40,000 profit (total payout $80,000).
As always, bear in mind that high-rollers have the bankroll to absorb such losses. So keep your wagers and your expectations reasonable. Especially on parlays!
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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