Big Bets Report: Bettor Loses $1 Million After Bills Bury Lions

Between NFL Week 2 odds and college football Week 3 odds, there was no shortage of high-rollers making major wagers. There were five- and six-figure bets aplenty, and even an eye-watering seven-figure play.

But on a Sunday of upsets in the NFL, arguably the best bet of the weekend was a relatively modest three-figure underdog parlay that netted a healthy five-figure profit.

More on that wager, a million-dollar loser and a Thursday night payday for the public betting masses, as we recap the weekend that was in football betting.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

The public was all over the Ravens on Sunday. Ditto for the Buccaneers, and to a slightly lesser extent, the Bears, after they put up a whopping 59 points in Week 1.

Baltimore and Tampa Bay were 8.5-point home favorites vs. the Saints and Browns, respectively. But both the Ravens and Bucs tumbled outright, with Baltimore falling 24-17 and Tampa losing 24-19.

Add in the Vikings’ 9-3 win over the Bears, and the bookmakers were doing cartwheels in the risk room.

But at least one bettor had the foresight to cash out nicely on an upset-riddled Sunday. At Caesars Sports, a customer put together this $500 underdog parlay:

• Saints moneyline +320
• Browns moneyline +325
• Vikings moneyline +183

The bettor needed three upsets and got three upsets. At odds of +4952, or just shy of 50/1, the customer’s 500 bucks turned into $25,258.

That’s a fine day’s work.

Over the past week, Station Sports in Las Vegas took two seven-figure wagers from the same customer. The first was a $1 million bet on Chiefs' moneyline -145 vs. Broncos, in the Week 1 Monday night game.

Kansas City rolled to a 31-10 victory, and the big bettor banked $689,655 profit, for a total payout of $1,689,655.

But sports betting giveth, and sports betting taketh away. 

In the Thursday night Lions-Bills showdown, the customer came back with another $1 million bet, on Lions' alternate spread +1.5.

That meant Detroit either had to lose by just one point or win the game outright. Instead, the Bills buried the Lions into a 21-0 first-half hole, and though Detroit put up a second-half fight, Jared Goff & Co. lost 41-31.

So that’s a million-dollar meltdown. Oof.

Speaking of the Thursday night game, contrary to the high-roller’s loss, the public made out like gangbusters, particularly because it was a high-scoring affair.

At Caesars, a customer put $100 on a six-leg parlay tied to touchdown scorers, of which there were plenty:

• Josh Allen First Touchdown Scorer
• Amon-Ra St. Brown Anytime TD
• James Cook Anytime TD
• Jahmyr Gibbs Anytime TD
• Dalton Kincaid Anytime TD
• Sam LaPorta Anytime TD

Josh Allen found the end zone as an anytime touchdown scorer against Detroit (Getty Images).

The odds of Allen scoring first and the other five players finding paydirt at any point were a hefty +50000, or 500/1 in easier-to-digest terms.

But all six legs delivered, and the customer cashed out for $50,000.

At Fanatics Sportsbook, a bettor turned a mere $25 into $7,500 profit before halftime.

Odds of all three scoring were a healthy +20000 (200/1), but the customer utilized a 50% profit boost to hike those odds to +30000 (300/1).

The home favorite winning and covering also paid for the public, and for a big bettor at DraftKings Sportsbook.

The customer put $110,000 on Bills -5.5 (-108) to turn a profit of $101,851 (total payout $211,851).

At Kalshi, a trader put $2,825 on Bills wideout Joshua Palmer Anytime Touchdown. Palmer was priced at 12%, which correlates to about +734 in betting odds.

The customer didn’t have to wait long to get paid, with Palmer hauling in a 43-yard TD pass that put the Bills up 14-0 in the first quarter. The trader pocketed $20,723 in profit, for a total payout of $23,549.

How about a more relatable wager amount of, say, $10? 

A Fanatics customer strung together six Anytime TD Scorers across the Sunday late window and the Sunday night Colts-Chiefs clash.

By the time Indy-K.C. kicked off, the first four legs were in on a wager with massive odds of +90694, just shy of 907/1. Then Colts tight end Tyler Warren scored the game’s first TD midway through the first quarter, and Kelce scored in the first quarter, as well.

That’s how 10 bucks becomes $9,074.94.

On another $10 parlay, a FanDuel Sports customer went with First Touchdown Scorers, tabbing Ravens running back Derrick Henry, Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase and Bucs wideout Emeka Egbuka.

Henry and Chase each broke the ice late in the first quarter, vs. the Saints and Texans, respectively. But interestingly, Browns-Bucs didn’t see a touchdown until five-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter.

Fortunately for the bettor, that TD came from Egbuka. At odds of +28077 (about 281/1), that $10 bill transformed into $2,817.

Prediction markets remain a controversial topic, but are still operating and seeing a lot of football trades made across the country. And there were some eye-poppingly big transactions over the weekend.

At Polymarket, a customer put $423,110 on the Chiefs to not cover the 6.5-point spread vs. the Colts. It was a back-and-forth battle all Sunday night, ultimately going to overtime, and K.C. indeed did not cover in a 33-30 victory.

The trader profited $360,428, for a total payout of $783,538.

Other notable trade contracts:

• $359,078 Cowboys to beat Commanders (Polymarket). Dallas rolled 37-20, and at a price of 66%, the trader profited $184,981 (total payout $544,059).
• $296,791 Bears to beat Vikings (Kalshi). That’s six figures in the loss column, with the Bears falling 9-3.
• $177,930 Titans to beat Eagles (KalshI). This was painfully close to cashing, but Tennessee gave up a TD with nine seconds left to lose 24-20. At a price of 25% (+300), the customer was this close to netting a whopping $533,790 profit.
• $131,978 Ole Miss to beat LSU (Kalshi). The Rebels let a 24-7 lead slip away, but held on for a 32-24 victory, giving the customer a $157,251 profit (total payout $289,229).

It’s not all about making big bets or cashing out huge on a 10-leg parlay. Which, to be clear, is rare.

Sometimes, it’s about putting 10 bucks on a single straight bet, backing a long shot or semi-long shot, and getting a solid return on investment.

For example, at FanDuel, Titans QB Cam Ward was 125/1 to score two touchdowns vs. the Eagles. Ward had the game’s first score, with 4:22 left in the first quarter, then ran it in again late in the third quarter while nearly engineering a big upset.

Ultimately, Tennessee lost 24-20. But if you’d put a tenner on Ward to score two or more TDs, then you’d be sitting on $1,250 profit today. If you got frisky and put $100 on it, then you’d have $12,500.

In the more realistic realm, Colts tight end Tyler Warren was +1500 in First TD Scorer for Sunday’s game vs. the Chiefs. He scored midway through the first quarter to put Indy up 7-0.

Ten bucks on that would’ve netted $150, and a C-note would’ve paid out $1,500.

And how about this, from Circa Sports here in Las Vegas: No Touchdown Scorer in the Bears-Vikings game was a +26000 bomb (260/1).

Minnesota won an absolute snoozer of a game 9-3, with four field goals accounting for all the scoring. Circa took two bets on that market, at a whopping sum of $1 apiece. But those two customers turned that dollar into $260 profit.

That $1 million Lions bet was the largest reported wager of the week. The next biggest actually got to the pay window, on one of the aforementioned upsets.

A DraftKings Sportsbook customer put $250,000 on Vikings +4.5 (-102) vs. Bears. So Minnesota winning outright made an outright winner of that bettor, who profited $245,098 (total payout $495,098).

Other notable major wagers on NFL Week 2 odds and college football Week 3 odds:

• $175,000 Georgia moneyline -3500 vs. Arkansas (Caesars). As those odds show, the Bulldogs were huge favorites and coasted 45-17. But at that price, the bettor profited just $5,000 (total payout $180,000)
• $129,240 Lions-Bills Under 54.5. That was a regrettable decision, as Detroit and Buffalo combined for 72 points Thursday night
• $60,000 Colts +6.5 (-113) vs. Chiefs. Indy covers in a 33-30 OT loss, and the bettor profits $53,087 (total payout $113,097)
• $50,000 Jets moneyline +170 vs. Packers (DraftKings). New York nearly got there, but fell short 20-17 in overtime
• $45,000 LSU moneyline -155 vs. Ole Miss. The Tigers rallied from a 24-7 deficit to tie it at 24, but fell short 32-24

Kentucky's Prince Jean celebrates after beating A&M (Getty Images).

And though not exactly a major wager, $2,155 is nothing to scoff at, either. Caesars Sports took that bet on Kentucky in-game moneyline +800 vs. Texas A&M, likely after the Wildcats went down 7-0 in the second quarter.

But it was all Kentucky from there. The ‘Cats, 16.5-point road underdogs, put up the next 28 points en route to a shocking 31-21 road upset.

So the bettor bagged $17,240 profit.

With regard to all the aforementioned big bets and people taking fliers on six-leg parlays and such, just keep in mind that this is gambling. Keep your bet size and expectations reasonable. Never bet more than you can afford to lose

WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT

NFL, CFB Weekend Betting Recap: 'It Was An Extremely Rough Week For Bettors'