A gambler at DraftKings bet $1.4 million to win just $11,200 on one of the greatest comebacks in NFL playoff history. The bet lost. The story went viral, sparking debate amongst sports bettors .
The money-line wager in question was placed on Saturday after the Chargers jumped out to a 27-0 lead over the Jaguars in the first half of the NFL wild-card night’s schedule. At that moment, DraftKings was offering the Chargers’ odds to win the game at -12,500. Meaning, a bettor would need to risk $12,500 on the Chargers to win $100.
A screenshot of the wager (first reported by Bleacher Report and confirmed by ESPN), shows a bettor placed the $1.4 million money-line bet on the Chargers to win the game at -12,500 odds. If successful, the bettor would win $11,200. That’s right, a $1.4 million bet to win $11,200.
The Jaguars rallied back in the second half for a 31-30 win. This was the third biggest comeback in NFL playoff history, and the bettor lost $1.4 million.
The bet became controversial on Twitter, with industry stakeholders and competing bookmakers questioning whether individual wagers should be publicized. Sportsbooks typically only reveal bets after receiving permission from the customer or if the betting slips are posted on social media. The identities of bettors are almost never disclosed.
Matt Metcalf, sportsbook director of Circa Sports, posted on Twitter about the bet, sarcastically instructing a supervisor to “find the worst bet any of our customers placed and post it! The race to embarrass our customer with the grossest loss to the social media world is on and we’re falling behind! Our players are idiots and we need to show the world and exploit their stupidity.”
Todd Fuhrman, a betting analyst for CBS Sports, who previously worked for Caesars Sportsbook, questioned why PR from sportsbooks “comes at the expense of the player they’re supposed to value.”
“It begs the question, though: Why would the bettor want to publicize this bet?” he said.
