National Football League

NFL Week 16 Big Bets Recap: Lucky bettor's $7 on 7-leg parlay hits for $27k

Published Dec. 23, 2024 11:36 a.m. ET

NFL Week 16 odds attracted plenty of interesting parlay wins and major wagers. But you’d be hard-pressed to beat the return on investment realized by a FanDuel Sportsbook customer on Sunday.

The bettor just might believe that seven is a lucky number, too. Because the wager was for $7 on a seven-leg anytime touchdown parlay. And it hit huge.

As in, five-figures huge.

More on that winner, along with other notable parlays, unique wins and big bets — winners and losers alike — as we recap NFL Week 16 betting, along with a little college football betting.

Anytime, Anyplace

The seven-leg parlay stretched across five games in Sunday’s Week 16 NFL odds, with two games accounting for four parts of the wager:

Raiders running back Ameer Abdullah and Jaguars wideout Brian Thomas Jr. as anytime touchdown scorers.
Seahawks wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Vikings wideout Jordan Addison as anytime TD scorers.

Then the bettor added Browns running back Jerome Ford anytime TD vs. the Bengals; Titans wideout Nick Westbrook-Ikhine anytime TD vs. the Colts; and Dolphins running back De’Von Achane anytime TD vs. the 49ers.

All seven players found paydirt on Sunday, at odds of +386432 — or a little over 3864/1. But Achane made the parlay bet a real sweat. He broke off a 50-yard touchdown run with just 1:36 remaining to seal Miami’s 29-17 win over San Francisco.

And that sealed a $27,057 win for the bettor.

Parlay Partay

A DraftKings Sportsbook customer had a super Saturday by stringing together a ticket that included all three College Football Playoff first-round games and the two NFL games.

The $250 wager was on a 10-leg parlay that had a little bit of everything: point-spread picks, Over/Under plays, and three player props.

All 10 legs got there, and the bettor walked away with a massive win of nearly $132,000.

A much more modest bet size and payout went to a FanDuel customer who went the deuces-wild route:

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley to score two or more touchdowns
Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson to score two or more touchdowns
Bills running back James Cook to score two or more touchdowns

Barkley got his two TDs in the first quarter. Cook scored in the second and third quarters. Jefferson was the sweat, scoring in the second quarter, then adding a second TD with just 3:51 left in the game.

At odds of +22286 — or about 223/1 — that five bucks turned a profit of $1,114.

Here’s Hoping You Had It

It’s not all about cashing out wild parlays for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. When you multiply any wager by 10 or 20, or in this case 24, your wallet will thank you.

At Caesars Sportsbook, Dallas Cowboys wideout Jalen Tolbert was a healthy +2400 to score the first TD in Sunday night’s home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Late in the first quarter, Tolbert caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cooper Rush.

If you’d just put a $10 bill on Tolbert, then you’d have profited $240.

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor — who gave away a touchdown at Denver in Week 15 — atoned by scoring three TDs in Indy’s 38-30 home win over Tennessee.

Caesars had Taylor +1000 to score three TDs. So 10 bucks there would’ve netted $100.

Commanders' Jayden Daniels on snapping Eagles win streak – 'It means a lot'

I Like Big Bets And I Cannot Lie

Per usual, there was a gaggle of six-figure bets on NFL Week 16 odds. The biggest of those bets went begging: $125,000 on Eagles -3 (-125) vs. the Commanders, at Caesars Sports.

Jayden Daniels engineered a comeback upset victory as Washington won 36-33. So that’s a pretty big donation to the house.

Caesars took a few more notable wagers:

$115,000 Ravens -6.5 (-115) vs. Steelers. Baltimore doubled up Pittsburgh 34-17, giving the bettor $100,000 profit (total payout $215,000).
$110,000 Raiders -1.5 vs. Jaguars. Las Vegas ended a 10-game losing streak with a 19-14 victory, and the bettor won $100,000 (total payout $210,000).
$100,000 Chargers -2.5 (-115) vs. Broncos. Los Angeles won 34-27, so the bettor profited $86,956.52 (total payout $186,956.52).
$74,000 Notre Dame moneyline -278 vs. Indiana. All the Irish had to do was win, which they did 27-17. The bettor profited $26,618.70 (total payout $100,618.70).
$71,818.18 Tennessee +7 (even) vs. Ohio State. The Vols got their clocks cleaned 42-17, and so did the bettor.

It must be nice to have that kind of cash sitting around. What I paid for the first several cars I owned wouldn’t add up to even the smallest of those wagers. Which makes this a good time to remind you: Keep it reasonable. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.

Enjoy the Saints and Packers on Monday night!

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas.

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