Bettor wagers $100K to win $500 on Bucks over Pistons

In the latest example of a gambler betting a lot to win relatively little, a Westgate sportsbook bettor wagered $100,000 to win $500 on the Milwaukee Bucks to win their NBA playoff series over the Detroit Pistons.

The gambler never broke a sweat as the top-seeded Bucks, led by NBA MVP favorite Giannis Antetokounmpo, blew out the Pistons in Games 1-3 by an average of 24 points.

Westgate sportsbook director John Murray essentially conceded the bet before Monday’s Game 4.

“Basically, he stole 500 bucks from us,” Murray said. “If Giannis gets hurt or something, it could’ve been dicey. But we usually do pretty well on those because mostly people take fliers on underdogs. It’s not like we’re going to lose on that.

“Actually, we’re going to do pretty well on the Warriors-Clippers series because we had a bunch of people bet the Clippers at the big plus (10,000 price).”

Why would anybody risk $100,000 to win $500, you might ask? Mostly because the bettor considers the 200-1 favorite a lock and considers the wager free money.

Murray said it’s not to pile up comps.

“When you bet those big money lines, you get comped at the win amount, not the risk amount,” he said. “I think the guy just saw an opportunity to put 500 bucks in his pocket and had the bankroll to do it.”

Knight moves

An MGM Resorts bettor lost a $200,000 wager to win $111,000 on the Golden Knights (-180) in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Sharks in double overtime of Game 6 of their NHL playoff series.

Another MGM Resorts gambler won $68,000 on a $40,000 bet on San Jose (+170) in Game 6. The same bettor also has a $22,000 series wager to win $20,000 on the Sharks and MGM finds itself in the rare position of needing Vegas to win the series. If the Knights prevail in Game 7 on Tuesday, the MGM would win in the mid-five figures on the series.

“We took money on the Sharks (to win the series),” The Mirage sports book director Jeff Stoneback said. “We definitely want the Knights to win and we’re in a better situation in the futures with the Knights than we are with the Sharks.”

It’s the opposite scenario at the Westgate sportsbook, which took three series wagers totaling $69,500 to win $60,000 on Vegas and stands to lose in the mid-six figures if the Knights win the Stanley Cup.

“They’re our worst-case scenario in the Stanley Cup pool,” Murray said.

That said, Westgate sports book vice president Jay Kornegay and managers Jeff Sherman and Ed Salmons are Knights’ season ticket holders and Murray said they’re all rooting for Vegas to win.

“It’s tough,” he said. “All of us go to all these games. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re rooting against them.”

NHL, NBA playoff stats

Entering Monday’s playoff games, NHL underdogs are 25-16 and the under is 22-16-3 while NBA favorites are 20-10 ATS and the under is 18-11-1.

NFL draft party

The fifth annual “Get Drafted at Sunset” NFL draft party will start at 3 p.m. Thursday inside Club Madrid at Sunset Station. Las Vegas radio host Brian Blessing will host the party, which is free and open to the public, and there will be free drawings for hats from every NFL team.

Super Bowl sleepers

Bettors at CG Technology sportsbook placed several potentially lucrative wagers on teams to win Super Bowl LIV: $4,000 to win $180,000 on the Jacksonville Jaguars (45-1); $2,000 to win $170,000 on the Tennessee Titans (85-1); and $3,000 to win $69,000 on the Dallas Cowboys (23-1).

More Betting: Follow at reviewjournal.com/betting and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.