National Football League

NFL Week 2 Big Bets Recap: Bettor wins 10k in five minutes; 22-leg parlay hits

Published Sep. 16, 2024 12:34 p.m. ET

For some reason, NFL Week 2 odds didn’t attract nearly the number of major wagers as Week 1. Two of the largest plays were actually for the Thursday night game between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins.

A Caesars Sports customer — and a sharp bettor, at that — played the Dolphins -1.5 for $110,000. And another Caesars customer put $110,000 on Dolphins -2.5 closer to kickoff.

Neither of those went so well, as Miami got rolled at home 31-10.

Let’s dive into more notable wagers and parlay winners from NFL Week 2 and college football Week 3 betting.

I Like Big Bets And I Cannot Lie

At least one large player at Caesars was on the right side of Bills-Dolphins. The bettor put $50,000 on Bills moneyline +118, pulling for a Buffalo outright win. The Bills got there with ease, landing the bettor a $59,000 windfall ($109,000 total payout).

Beyond those Caesars tickets, a couple of the more sizable bets this week came at BetRivers Sportsbook.

· $52,000 on Panthers alternate spread +7.5 (-159) vs. Chargers

· $43,000 on Bears alternate spread +7.5 (-130) vs. Texans

· $40,000 on Packers alternate spread +4 (-143) vs. Colts

All I can say to that first wager is ouch. Carolina lost 26-3 at home and continues to be dreadful.

As Prime Sportsbook executive chairman Joe Brennan Jr. said Sunday, "We will probably always need Carolina."

The Bears and Packers bets both got there, although the customers had to pay a premium, buying up to a larger number. Chicago lost to Houston 19-13, but covered the 7.5, so the bettor profited $33,077 (total payout $76,077)

Green Bay beat Indianapolis 16-10, giving the bettor a profit of $27,972 (total payout $67,972).

In college football, a Caesars Sports customer put $37,500 on Texas -35 vs UTSA. Even though Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers (strained abdomen) left early in the second quarter, Arch Manning and Texas didn’t skip a beat, rolling 56-7 to easily cover.

So the bettor banked a $34,091 win (total payout $71,591).

Parlay Partay

I also like small bets and I cannot lie. Parlays often serve that purpose, with customers looking to spend a little to win a lot.

On Saturday at FanDuel Sportsbook, a college football bettor turned $5 into $2,760 by converting a nine-leg parlay. Odds were supposed be a plenty long +36733 — just beyond 367/1 — but the customer used an odds boost to extend the price to +55110 — ostensibly 555/1.

Also, at FanDuel Sportsbook, a customer put together a 22-leg parlay of player props for Sunday NFL. It was a $35 ticket at odds of +9613 — so just a little shy of 100/1.

Crazily, all 22 legs hit, including Ravens QB Lamar Jackson scrambling for 25 yards on the final play against the Raiders. Jackson had to rush for 25 or more yards in the game, and prior to that play, he only had 20 yards.

So the bettor turned $35 into a profit of $3,364 ($3,399 total payout).

Happy Returns

We’ll wrap it up with a couple bets of the more standard variety, with nice returns on investment:

– A DraftKings Sportsbook customer put $20 on Saints running back Alvin Kamara to have three or more touchdowns vs. the Cowboys, at odds of +4500. That bet paid off in the first half, as Kamara scored three times, and he added a fourth TD in the second half. The bettor profited $900.

– DraftKings also took a $1,000 bet on Bills running back James Cook +1000 to score the first touchdown in the Buffalo-Miami game. Cook did so, and the bettor profited a cool 10 grand ($11,000 total payout).

That Cook ticket cashed just 5:11 into Buffalo’s 31-10 Thursday night win at Miami.

It’s hard to beat making $10,000 in five minutes.

And that’s a wrap on this week’s big bets/big winners. Enjoy the Falcons vs. Eagles 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.