If you’re a Detroit Lions fan, you might think you have a lot invested in their games each week. But the stakes were enormous in the Monday Night Football showdown against the Green Bay Packers for one BetMGM Sportsbook player.
If the Lions had secured the big upset — they were double-digit underdogs — the bettor could have turned a $25, 16-team NFL moneyline parlay into a … brace yourselves … $726,959 payout.
And for a half, there was hope. But a 3-point Lions edge at the break gave way to a 21-0 Packers run out of intermission and a 35-17 Green Bay victory.
And no massive Cinderella score.
However, in an update provided Wednesday by the sportsbook, a deal made by the player and BetMGM before the game resulted in a great $133k payout for the player anyways.
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First 15 NFL parlay legs hit for BetMGM player
The player had hit all 15 legs in the NFL’s Week 2 until Monday night, though we don’t know how many swings they took on other bets that ended up being losers.
For this (almost) winning ticket, here were the values the player locked in:
- Washington -175
- Bears -130
- Browns -650
- Rams -190
- Bills -175
- Patriots -250
- 49ers -160
- Raiders +190
- Panthers +150
- Broncos -275
- Cardinals -190
- Buccaneers -650
- Cowboys +135
- Titans +190
- Ravens +180
That left the Lions, which were locked in at +400 to win for the bet. This result would have been by far the biggest upset on the ticket. The Titans and Raiders, both at +190, were otherwise the biggest underdogs to come through this weekend for the bettor.
If you were wondering about the customized payout here, you’re looking at a roughly a +2900000 odds set on the parlay.
More Michigan sports betting coverage
- Why Aaron Rodgers isn’t as much of a spread betting lock vs. Detroit as you’d think
- Updated information on NFL sports betting promos and sportsbooks
When is cashing out an option on parlays?
Like most Michigan sports betting operators, BetMGM offers cash outs for bets that could be winners. This option is especially helpful for parlays that have hit some legs already, but when you might not be sure about what remains.
We still don’t know the exact situation the BetMGM bettor faces in advance of Monday’s game, but Andrew Doughty, who does content for BetMGM, provided a Twitter poll with a clue.
He asked followers if the person should take a cash out of about $145,000 on such a parlay, with more than 90% siding the way of the “sure thing” — if it were offered.
And that’s where there is still some clarity needed. According to multiple national media reports, this parlay was a bonus bet and the bet originated from Michigan (which, frankly, would make sense given the Lions being on the back end of this parlay). Such a scenario and the location information have not been confirmed by BetMGM as of the 11 p.m. hour on Monday, however.
If that was the case, it’s worth mentioning that early cash outs are not available for bonus bets, so there could have been a wide variety of factors at play here.
Doughty later tweeted that had this better gone on the Packers money line for this game, the 16-leg payout would have been around
It’s one of the bets times of the year for any sports bettor.
March Madness is weeks of edge-of-your-seat action.
It’s also a time when online sportsbooks are dishing out a lot of NCAA Tournament betting promotions and contests.
We’ve put together a compilation of what is available for you and will continue to update it as Thursday afternoon approaches.
BetMGM $10 million bracket challenge
If your March Madness prognostications are on point, you can win $10 million from BetMGM Sportsbook MI on its Bracket Challenge. They are offering up that amount if you predict a perfect bracket for the tournament.
It’s a contest on the BetMGM mobile app. Should nobody get a perfect bracket, the player with the top overall bracket will still win $100,000.
BetMGM is also offering up parlay boost tokens every day that games are being played. Each day, any user can earn a parlay boost token to use with their parlays.
New users to BetMGM also can receive a $1,000 first bet for March Madness.
BetMGM online casino users can also get in on the March Madness at BetMGM. If you place $100 in wagers on casino games, you will be rewarded with a $10 sports bet.
If that wasn’t enough, BetMGM is also putting on March Matchups Slots Tourney. From March 14-April 1 users can take part in a featured head-to-head slots matchup. A qualifying wager of $10 will help your favorite slot in the matchup advance and allow you to earn prizes.
DraftKings giving you Gonzaga at even odds
DraftKings Sportsbook MI is giving a great deal on top-ranked Gonzaga in its opening matchup with 16th-seeded Georgia State on Thursday.
With its Gonzaga Super Boost, you can get the Zags at +100 on the moneyline, down from -10000. Just opt-in on the promos page to get the odds boost. You can place a maximum bet of $50.
DraftKings is also offering up stepped-up parlay boosts for Thursday. Opt-in and place a 3+leg college basketball parlay for any games on Thursday. With each additional leg, the parlay boost percentage increases. It goes from 5% for 3 legs up to 75% for 12+ legs. The max bet you can place on the parlay is $100 and the max winnings are limited to $5,000.
You can also get a stepped-up parlay boost for picking regional champions. The more legs, the higher. The boost starts at 20% for 2 legs and works up to 50% for picking all four.
DK is also getting in on the act with the NCAA Women’s Tournament. It is providing a 50% profit boost on any tournament champion wager. Opt-in and place a max bet of $50 with max additional winnings of $250.
DraftKings has a Millionaire Bracket Challenge as well. Entry is $100 with the winner receiving $1 million. Just fill out your bracket entry and watch along throughout the tournament.
Tourney Madness at BetRivers
BetRivers Sportsbook MI is putting on a Tourney Madness promotion throughout the NCAA Tournament.
Users can collect checks to earn more drawing entries for a top prize of $10,000. Checks are tasks to win each weekend of the tournament. You can earn up to 10 checks throughout the tournament.
This week’s checks in the promo are:
- Win a bet on a first round game
- Place a pregame moneyline bet on a 12 seed to beat a 5 seed
- Place a 5+leg parlay on rounds 1 or 2 (no same game legs)
- Make a wager on any team to win the tournament before the end of round 2
March Madness offer at FanDuel
FanDuel Sportsbook MI is offering a promotion for March Madness. Just opt-in to the promotion and place a wager on any game/market with odds of -200 or longer. If your wager loses, you get a refund in site credit.
Earn bonus bets at Caesars
Caesars Sportsbook MI is giving away bonus bets the more you place on the NCAA Tournament.
Bet at least $10 on the point spread in at least five games, and up to eight. If you win five wagers, get at least $10 in bonus bets. Bet $100 on all eight games for up to $3,000 in bonus bets.
Visit Caesars’ promo page for more details on what games qualify.
$100 in bonus bets at PointsBet
You can earn up to $100 in live bonus bets at PointsBet Sportsbook to use on the NCAA Tournament. Get $20 in bonus bets per round from the first round through the Final Four.
If you bet $100 on any Michigan PointsBet Casino game this weekend, get a $10 bonus bet to use on any NCAA Tournament game this weekend.
Other NCAA Tournament betting promotions
Fox Bet Sportsbook is offering a bonus $5 bet during the opening round. Just opt-in to claim your bonus wager and use it on a NCAA Tournament game for Thursday or Friday.
Barstool Sportsbook is adding a little extra to your NCAA Championship futures wager. When you bet on the team to win the tournament, you get $5 bonus money for every game they win throughout the tournament.
Hedging your bets: A good lesson
We are not providing direct advice here, but players who have a decent chance of hitting big parlays in often have the option to consider a strong hedge heading into some of the final legs.
This thought came about, too, in the Michigan sports betting world when an in-state player cashed a parlay of almost $80,000 betting 14 college football unders earlier this season.
Since the heavy lifting was mostly done on this 16-leg ticket, it would have been a shame to come up empty on the winnings if the Lions can’t pull the upset.
In this case, the bettor could have ensured some winnings (while potentially shaving some away from the ultimate big score if the Lions do pull off the stunner) by hedging and placing a separate bet on the Packers to win.
Of course, the slim chance of a tie also should be considered in any of these situation.
Obviously, a bet on the Packers to win would have meant short odds (Green Bay was -650 at BetMGM at midday Monday, for example), so you’d need to bet a lot to win just a little. Plus, most average Joes don’t have that kind of money to grab at a moment’s notice.
But you can bet this player was doing lots of math and risk management calculations Monday, trying to figure the best course of action.
