Underneath more than a dozen flat-screen TVs, there are 38 red, white and blue betting kiosks lining the walls of the sportsbook at Riverwalk Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi. On March 8, what may be the greatest parlay wager ever to hit at a U.S. sportsbook was placed on one of them -- a $25, 20-leg bet that paid $104,412.44.
BetAmerica, the sportsbook operator for Riverwalk, said the parlay resulted in its largest payout since the book opened in August. Through the sportsbook, the bettor asked not to be identified.
The parlay featured point spreads, money lines and over/unders on a mix of Friday night NBA and college basketball games. The bettor backed 14 favorites, three underdogs and three overs. They all came through, but there were some close calls.
Their biggest sweat may have come in the first game listed on their ticket: Washington Wizards at Charlotte Hornets. The bettor took the favored Hornets to win straight-up at -200 odds. Washington guard Bradley Beal missed a potential go-ahead, contested layup with 3.6 seconds to play, and the Hornets held on for a 112-111 victory.
The ticket stayed alive when the Dallas Mavericks outscored the Orlando Magic 33-19 in the fourth quarter to cover a 6.5-point spread in a 111-106 loss and was completed with the Los Angeles Clippers' 118-110 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the final NBA game of the night.
BetAmerica vice president Alan Stremel said 20-leg parlays have been placed, but this was the first one to hit.
"We know players are excited about it, and the [Mississippi] market has been interested in parlays," Stremel told ESPN. "People like the potential payouts when putting it all together."
Traditionally, 20-leg parlays have not been a regular offering at Nevada sportsbooks, and multiple veteran Las Vegas bookmakers and bettors struggled to recall any parlay with that many selections ever cashing.
"I've heard of 15 [legs], but not 20, not with us," Bill Sattler, director of specialty game for Caesars Entertainment and a 30-plus-year Vegas veteran, said. "Welcome to the business."
It was costly start to the month for the Riverwalk, one of the new legal sportsbooks to open in Mississippi over the last year. In January, the five casinos with sportsbooks located in Mississippi's "central region," which includes Riverwalk, combined to win a net $457,000. The Riverwalk Casino lost nearly a quarter of that just as its first March Madness was tipping off.
"We look forward to the rest of the action," Stremel said.
FAQs
On March 8, what may be the greatest parlay wager ever to hit at a U.S. sportsbook was placed on one of them -- a $25, 20-leg bet that paid $104,412.44. BetAmerica, the sportsbook operator for Riverwalk, said the parlay resulted in its largest payout since the book opened in August.
Has a 20-leg parlay ever won? ›
Sports betting: Bettor wins $123,000 on 20-leg parlay - Yahoo Sports.
Has anyone ever won a 25 leg parlay? ›
A bettor at FanDuel Sportsbook bet on a big game for more than a dozen NBA and a few NFL players with a crazy 25-leg parlay. The odds were nearly 100,000/1, coming in at +9469080, or an implied probability of about 0.00001. The parlay won the bettor an unbelievable $23,673 off a single 25-cent gamble.
How many legs is too many for a parlay? ›
Limit number of legs
Building up a parlay that has three to five legs is perfectly fine, but anything more than that is simply too risky. The payout will continue to rise with each new leg that you add, but that doesn't mean that you will see any of that money.
How much does a 10 leg parlay pay? ›
Popular Parlay Best Bets
| FIXED ODDS PARLAY TABLE |
|---|
| # of Teams | Las Vegas Payout | **Global Book Payout |
|---|
| 8 | 150/1 | 175.44/1 |
| 9 | 300/1 | 360/1 |
| 10 | 700/1 | 720/1 |
6 more rowsOn March 8, what may be the greatest parlay wager ever to hit at a U.S. sportsbook was placed on one of them -- a $25, 20-leg bet that paid $104,412.44. BetAmerica, the sportsbook operator for Riverwalk, said the parlay resulted in its largest payout since the book opened in August.
What has the largest parlay ever won? ›
Florida's wild return to the American betting market included one of the largest parlay payouts ever reported -- $6 million -- and one of the largest single bets ever reported on a midweek MAC game: $1.5 million on a one-win Kent State team. On Dec.
Has anyone ever won a 16 leg parlay? ›
According to the Sportsbook, the bettor in question correctly wagered that 16 different players would get at least one hit, which is exactly what transpired as the Rays prevailed 9-5 over the A's. The bet relied on not only on an enormous amount of luck, but also on Friday's game turning into a high-scoring one.
Does a no contest ruin your parlay? ›
Bets will be settled on the official result announced at the end of the fight. Subsequent appeals/amendments do not affect settlement (unless the amendment was made due to human error when announcing the result). In the event a fight ends in a “No Contest”, all bets void unless settlement has already been determined.
How bad are parlay odds? ›
The odds of winning a parlay involving multiple teams or outcomes are much lower than winning a single bet, making it a less valuable option in terms of expected value, which is a measure of the average outcome.
Hedging Parlay Betting Strategy
This strategy is one that many consider to be the best parlay strategy. If the favorite wins, the underdog pick helps to balance out the loss of the other game. The other part of hedging is making selections based on when the game is being played.
What is the success rate of a parlay? ›
Parlays had a 17.74% success rate in the state, resulting in an 18.2% sportsbook hold. Compare that 18.2% parlay hold to a 4.9% sportsbook hold in the state on straight bets, and you can gather why sportsbooks around the country make parlay betting a focal point of their marketing schemes.
Why are parlays so hard to hit? ›
The Risk of Parlay Bets
Hitting bets is hard; hitting two at a time is even tougher, three in a row is tougher than that, and so on and so forth. Since parlays combine so many different things into one bet, the risk is higher than placing any combination of those bets individually.
What are the odds of hitting a 12 leg parlay? ›
Nine-team parlay - 350/1. 10-team parlay - 700/1. 11-team parlay - 1,300/1. 12-team parlay - 2,500/1.
What does a $100 4 team parlay pay? ›
Enter 4 in the “Number of Games” box. Enter -110 in each game line box (make sure you enter the minus sign)• Click “Calculate”. It will then tell you that the true parlay odds on this bet would be +1228, meaning you should expect a payout of $1,228.33 on a bet amount of $100.
What are the odds of hitting a 15 leg parlay? ›
The odds of all 15 legs hitting, per BetMGM, were +22670.61. It started in the NHL on Tuesday night where the Vegas Golden Knights hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. The Knights fell behind 2-0, so the bettor kicked off his parlay with a live bet on the Knights +2.5 goals at -105 odds.
Has anyone ever hit a 20-team parlay? ›
By the time the Kings and 76ers were wrapping up the NBA schedule, one bettor had somehow avoided every single land mine and stuck the landing on a 20-leg parlay. Incredible. Hitting a 20-team parlay is just about impossible, and playing them is not strategy anyone should follow.
What are the odds of hitting a 20-team parlay? ›
Assuming a 50-50 chance with each game, the odds are 1 out of 1,048,576. Thus, if this parlay card costs $5.00 to pay, the casino "should" pay you $5,242,880.00 for your efforts, if they had no house edge. Assuming a 50-50 chance with each game, the odds are 1 out of 1,048,576.
Has anyone ever won a 14 game parlay? ›
One lucky NFL fan turns $5 into $489,383 after correctly predicting a 14-pick parlay bet. A lucky NFL fan was on Santa's nice list after he won a $489,383 payout after perfectly predicting a 14-pick parlay of players who scored a touchdown in Week 16 with a five-dollar bet.
