The Indianapolis Colts led the Philadelphia Eagles 17-6 at halftime on Monday night and were up 14 points midway through the first quarter, but they just couldn’t hang on. The Eagles came soaring back to grab a 30-27 victory. They pried $100,000 away from one bettor’s fingertips in the process.
Well, the guy didn’t lose $100K. He actually only bet $5, but all he needed was a Colts victory by three or more points to complete his 15-team parlay and pocket six figures.
“Honestly, we were rooting for the guy, starting with Sunday night’s game,” Delaware Lottery director Vernon Kirk told David Purdum of ESPN.com. “Our risk manager told us Sunday night that only one person had hit 13 games and needed the Bears and Colts.
“It definitely looked like Delaware had a winner when the Colts were up 14 midway through the third quarter. Then to have the Eagles rally like that — and to win in the last three seconds of the game — it was agonizing to watch when you knew one player was so close to such a big payout.”
I can’t even imagine how much that stings. Nobody expects to win a 15-team parlay when you place the wager, but when you get down to the final one or two games you definitely start seeing money signs. As ESPN noted, no one has hit a 15-team parlay with the Delaware Lottery — the largest legal sports betting operation in America outside of Nevada — since 2011. The odds of winning one are 32,000-1.
