By Kenny Burgess Contributor
Updated 7/9/23 8:08am ET
There is no better feeling than winning a huge bet. Whether you hit a big futures bet or a longshot parlay, cashing a big bet slip always feels so rewarding. We will look at some of the biggest paydays bettors have gotten while wagering a lot and even crazy parlays that have hit.
If you know anything about betting, you’ve heard of Mattress Mack. Just last November, Mack brought home the biggest victory in sports gambling history. Mack is the owner of Gallery Furniture in Houston and won approximately $75 million of the $10 million in bets on the Astros to win the World Series. Early in the season, Mack bet $3 million on the Astros to win the World Series at Caesars at 10/1 and also plunked down $1 million at WynnBet. Then in July, Mack placed $2 million more at BetMGM at 5/1 odds, $2 million at Barstool at 5.3/1, and $1 million each at Unibet and Betfred, also at 5/1. Obviously, Mack knew something we all didn’t or was just very confident. I wonder if Mack will inspire other wealthy bettors to place larger futures bets and stick with them to the end.
For the bettors that don’t have a bankroll like Mattress Mack, there are still other ways to get a big payday. There’s no better example of a recent bettor who brought home $115,000 off two futures bets where he wagered just over $5,000 in total. This bettor placed a three-leg futures parlay in November 2022 on Argentina to win the World Cup +615, the Denver Nuggets to win the Western Conference +850, and the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup +1000. In this bet, he risked $100 to win $74,617.50.
Long after Argentina won the World Cup, the bettor doubled down when the Nuggets reached the Western Conference Final against the Lakers and the Golden Knights reached the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars. He took the Nuggets to win the series at -141 and the Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup at +390, wagering $5,000 on this parlay to win an additional $36,875.90. In the end, both of these parlays cashed and this fan walked away with a huge payday, showing you don’t need to place huge bets to get significant returns.
There’s another fan who is on the right track to cash a ticket with even crazier odds. Before the 2023 MLB season started, a bettor placed a six-leg parlay picking all six of the MLB’s division winners. The picks included the Minnesota Twins to win the AL Central (+225), the Tampa Bay Rays to win the AL East (+375), the Texas Rangers to win the AL West (+900), the Cincinnati Reds to win the NL Central (+6000), the Atlanta Braves to win the NL East (-110), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (+4000). This bettor placed only $1.62 on this parlay at +73708349 odds. Yes, you are reading correctly. If the bet hits, the bettor would stand to collect $1,194,076.97.
As of today, five of those six teams are in first place and the Minnesota Twins are a .5 game out of the AL Central lead. If the bet cashes, it would be the most absurd bet of all time and the longest odds ever on a winning ticket. Now for the real dilemma: Should he cash out? Right now, the bettor is being offered $8,097.73 for his ticket, turning his $1.62 into almost $8,000 would be an incredible feat. But who says his bet won’t cash? If we learned anything from our previous two winners, maybe this bettor should go crazy and just double down.
Obviously, Winning a bet like any of these three is incredibly hard and takes some serious luck. But you’ll never know if you don’t place the bet.
Photo credits: Mattress Mack’s Instagram, BR Betting’s Instagram
