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You may have heard about the gambler who had a 16-team, money-line card that went 15 for 15 on Sunday, with only a Detroit Lions win over the Green Bay Packers standing in the way of a $726,000 payout. Obviously, the Lions lost — and there went the money.
Unless it didn’t.
As explained by Darren Rovell of TheActionNetwork.com, BetMGM has paid the cash out amount of $133,000 for the 15-of-16 showing, even though the specific wager (a free $25 bet) was not eligible for the cash out option.
Rovell also explains the challenges inherent to hedging a bet like this. Basically, the gambler would have had to borrow $580,000 to win $100,000, guaranteeing a profit of either $100,000 (with the Packers win) or $146,000 (if the Lions had won).
The rules of the promotional bet technically prevented the cash out. BetMGM — spending money wisely for the purposes of persuading others to come to the table with their own — opted to give the gambler the $133,000 for getting the first 15 games right.
Meanwhile, why in the hell did this person think the Lions would win the game?
