2025 Big Bets Report: Bettor Banks $1 Million After OKC Wins NBA Finals

Patrick Everson

FOX Sports Betting Analyst

Right now, if you bet the Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super Bowl, you’d get odds of +2100. That means a $100 wager would profit $2,100 if the Bengals went the distance.

But how would you like to be holding a ticket that effectively makes the Bengals a whopping +83000? One FanDuel Sportsbook customer is doing just that with a modest futures parlay.

Read on for more on that wager, other notable bets and some big winners from the NBA Finals.

Parlay Partay

There’s a bettor who goes by the handle @TheRealMrACL on X, and he regularly does something pretty cool for friends and family. He’ll put together futures parlay tickets and give them away as gifts.

Of course, he makes plenty of bets for himself, as well. And months ago, he put together this $25 three-leg futures parlay at FanDuel:

• Thunder +227 to win NBA Finals

• Panthers +907 to win the Stanley Cup

• Bengals +2418 to win the Super Bowl

Add those up, and you’ve got odds of +41500 — or in easier-to-read terms, 415/1. But FanDuel also offered a 100% profit boost, which the bettor utilized in this case, doubling the odds to +83001 — or about 830/1.

Over the past week or so, the first two legs came in. Florida beat Edmonton 4-2 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final, and Oklahoma City beat Indiana 4-3 in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

Now, it’s down to just Joe Burrow and Cincinnati lifting the Lombardi Trophy next February. The Bengals are among the top 10 teams on FanDuel’s Super Bowl odds, so it’s not out of the question.

And rather than the +2100 odds now available, the bettor ostensibly has the Bengals at +83000. If Cincy gets there, then that $25 becomes $20,775.33.

Small Stuff

In the sports wagering world, you often hear the phrase, “Bet a little to win a lot.” Every now and then, though, a customer goes the opposite direction, betting a lot to win a little.

Such was the case with NBA Draft odds on the No. 1 overall pick. A Caesars Sportsbook bettor put $5,000 on Cooper Flagg to be the No. 1 overall pick. Flagg was a monster -100000 favorite to go first, a lead-pipe cinch to be selected by the Dallas Mavericks.

The bettor’s reward for being correct: five dollars. But it makes for a good story. Heaven help that person if somehow Flagg didn’t go No. 1 overall.

Super Bowl Bets

Along with the aforementioned parlay, there have already been several noteworthy bets on Super Bowl futures odds. Among them is a flier on the perceived worst team in the NFL heading into the 2025-26 season.

A Caesars customer put $90 on the New Orleans Saints +30000 (300/1) to win the Super Bowl. At the moment, the No. 1 quarterback on the Saints’ depth chart is rookie Tyler Shough, a second-round draft pick.

That’s one of many reasons for New Orleans’ long odds of winning the title. But if something insanely quirky happens, then the bettor will profit $27,000.

The Las Vegas Raiders are expected to be better than the Saints. Still, you can get the Silver and Black at +9000, and one Caesars bettor did so, on a $600 wager.

In the unlikely event that Las Vegas lifts the Lombardi, the bettor would pocket $54,000 in profit.

I Like Big Bets And I Cannot Lie

Back on June 5, a BetMGM customer in Ohio quietly put down $8 million on the Thunder -700 to win the NBA Finals vs. the Indiana Pacers. Or as quietly as one could wager well into seven figures.

Word didn’t get out until after Sunday’s Game 7, which Oklahoma City won 103-91 for a 4-3 series victory.

The bettor profited nearly $1.143 million, for a total payout of almost $9.143 million. That’s a pretty healthy ROI for a couple of weeks.

Similarly, BetMGM Nevada took a $1.05 million bet on Oklahoma City -700 on June 4, a day before the NBA Finals began. So that customer collected $150,000 in profit, for a total payout of $1.2 million.

As always, bear in mind that plenty of these major wagers and intriguing parlays lose. Keep it reasonable. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.

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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