BetMGM Pays Cashout Price for Losing $726K Parlay

The bettor who risked a $25 free bet in a 16-team parlay to win over $726,000 just to lose the final leg on Monday Night gets a happy ending after all.

BetMGM announced that despite the Detroit Lions losing against the Packers, the bettor who hit the first 15 legs of the crazy moneyline parlay was still going to get a cashout win of $133K pre-tax from the sportsbook.

Because it was a free bet, it did not have a cash out option available. Due to the price of the payout and how big of a favorite the Packers were, hedging opportunities were limited and complicated, as laid out below.

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One bettor is going to be glued to the Monday Night Football matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. 

That’s because he or she has hit 15 of 16 legs of an NFL Week 2 moneyline parlay and picked the underdog Lions to win as the final leg.

It’s a $25 bet that would be worth $726,959 if the Lions prevailed. 

But there’s a big catch. 

Sources at BetMGM tell The Action Network that the $25 was a free bet, meaning that a winning bet wouldn’t be eligible for a cash out. A real-money bet would have been eligible for a cash-out, guaranteeing a big pay-day for the bettor. The implied odds of Detroit listed as a +400 underdog mean the Lions have just a 20% chance of winning, according to the market. 

But because how big of a favorite the Packers are, and because of the potential payout, hedging this bet becomes complicated.

With the Packers listed as a -580 favorite, it would cost $580,000 to try to lock in a profit of $100,000. How many people using a $25 free bet have access to $580,000 in the hours before kick-off?

Even if the bettor could get access to $20,000 to hedge, the profit would come out to just over $3400 with a Green Bay win. That's a fine payday for a $25 free bet, but doesn't come close to the $726,000.

Taking -110 odds to back the Packers against the spread at -11.5, that leaves too much room for the Packers to win by 11 or fewer points. That would result in the bettor losing the parlay, and their ATS play on the Packers.

Use The Action Network betting calculator to put yourself in these shoes to see what you might risk in a hedge situation.

The ticket in play is listed below. The Athletic was first to report the wager was a free bet.