Betting buzz: Men’s Final Four features tightest spreads on record

And it’s not just the number of players within touching distance of the lead, but the quality. McIngvale paid a little extra juice to move the line from Bucs +3 to +3.5, which didn’t end up mattering. Tampa Bay fell behind 3-0 before scoring 14 unanswered points en route to a 21-6 halftime lead and eventual 31-9 victory. Brady was named the MVP (for the fifth time in his Hall of Fame career) and won his seventh and final Super Bowl. You can also take advantage of betting on handball, tennis, basketball, handball, table tennis, baseball, and NFL.

Elmer Sherwin – wins $21 million

In college football betting, top teams will typically schedule opponents they perceive as easy wins in their non-conference schedule early in the season. In fact, these spreads can be so high that sportsbooks won’t even offer a money line option on the favorite for that game. It’s usually best to avoid these types of lines, even if the game outcome is not in doubt. Nicholas Newlife would be proud to have one of the biggest sports betting wins in history. Back in 2003, Newlife was amazed at Roger Federer’s (one of the highest paid athletes) skills during Wimbledon, so much so that he placed a bet on the tennis player’s future success.

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A total of 96.25% of people picked Purdue to win the first-round matchup. Purdue was also a popular option to reach the Final 4 and the Championship Game, selected in 15% and 7.9% of brackets, respectively. Purdue was the fourth most popular bet for the Final 4 and Championship Game. The Knights didn’t win the Northeast Conference Tournament to secure an automatic qualification for the tournament and shouldn’t have been in the field. Merrimack College, who defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, wasn’t eligible to play in the NCAA Tournament this year, clearing the way for the Knights.

Their future odds going into the fray are the shortest since 2018, which was also the last time UConn was favored to win it all. Most sportsbooks are consistent with odds and spreads, but occasionally there are discrepancies. It’s important to shop around for the best lines if you’re considering a particular point spread wager. There’s risk involved in all sports betting, and it’s important for bettors to understand these risks and bet responsibly. However, there’s no evidence to say a point spread bet is riskier than any other sports bet.

RBC Heritage betting preview

Harry Levant is a gambling addiction therapist and leading voice on the public health impacts of online sports betting. As of Friday morning, Illinois is -1.5 (-115) over UConn and Michigan is -1.5 (-108) against Arizona, according to DraftKings odds. Assuming those lines hold until tip-off, it would be the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 that both national semifinals had spreads of two or less, per ESPN Research. The trading pattern of newly created Polymarket accounts placing strategic, well-timed bets mirrors earlier episodes on the platform.

The rest of Week 1, by the numbers

DraftKings and FanDuel spent heavily on what turned out to be a Missouri ballot initiative record $43 million campaign. In light of Porter’s banishment, BetMGM Sportsbook said in October that it would not take NBA prop bets on players on two-way or 10-day contracts. It joined several others taking this action, including U.S. sportsbook giants DraftKings and FanDuel, as well as ESPN BET. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to offer sports betting, each successive year has set a record for the amount of money wagered legally.

Prisco’s Better-Than Team: Who he likes more than scouts

Fairleigh Dickinson will take on 9-seed Florida Atlantic Sunday night for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16. The Knights will once again be double-digit underdogs, listed at odds of +14.5 at DraftKings. Since 1985, the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Tournament has featured a bracket of at least 64 teams seeded 1 through 16 in four different regions. For the second time ever, a 16 seed defeated a 1 seed, cementing its place in March Madness history. The Eagles had a 5-4 record in away games during the 2023 season. The Eagles were 8-1 as they entered their bye week in Week 10 of the season and after Week 12 had a 10-1 record, looking like a return to the Super Bowl, where the team lost to the Chiefs last year.

• The increase in available outlets for big bettors and the prevalence of social media has led to an increase in large wagers reported by different sportsbooks.
• The Dolphins wide receiver went on to put up one of Sunday’s best performances, much to the benefit of many bettors.
• In an astonishing victory, now known as the magnificent seven, Frankie Dettori surprised everyone, and Farren Yeats got a pay-off of £550,000.
• Kenya’s premier sports betting platform offering the best odds, live betting, casino games, and exciting promotions.
• Sears to San Diego in a deal with the A’s, trading away No. 3 overall prospect Leo De Vries and three other top-20 prospects in the Padres’ system.
• After wins by Purdue and Iowa State, both brackets reached 42-0, matching the previous ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge record.
• The Chiefs have reached the Super Bowl in five of the past six seasons, taking home the Lombardi Trophy three times during that stretch.
• Sometimes, there will be small discrepancies (-115, -105) or (-120, +100), but the odds are usually around -110.
• The 26-year-old placed an astonishing 15-leg NFL parlay with a $5 deposit and earned her winnings by choosing the right point spread in 14 games.

In 2024, Byron took the lead for the first time on a late restart and led the final four laps. Another wallet, created 12 minutes before Trump’s post, made $31,908 of “Yes” bets at 33.7 cents, and is estimated to have earned a profit of $48,500. The higher price for “Yes” at that time may have reflected the efforts late Tuesday by the government of Pakistan to get Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks.

Here’s a look at the field ahead of the first Cup Series race of the season. NASCAR’s biggest race has evolved into what can kindly be called a crapshoot over the last five seasons. As William Byron goes for his third straight Daytona 500 win, he’s hardly been at the front in any of his previous two victories. Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports. The U.S. now has legal sports betting in 40 states (with Missouri set to come online later this year) thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Professional Sports and Amateur Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018.

Chris Paul dances on Clippers’ grave with meme after former team’s play-in collapse vs. Warriors

There’s no better feeling than getting a massive return on your investment, and one Las Vegas resident knows that for sure. The anonymous bettor only paid the $5 participation fee at one of the top betting sites William Hill sportsbook but successfully took home $305,375 after correctly selecting 12 winners in one weekend. Among the bettor’s choices were the Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors, two NBA winners. Even the biggest Leicester City fans didn’t have much confidence in the team winning the Premier League back in 2015.

The run total comes in at 7.5 on the prediction market sites, and I like that at -115 at the time of this writing. We’ll dive in to whether there is any hope for the Mets to right the ship and avoid another loss to the Dodgers in a West Coast swing where the team seems to be reeling and searching for a motive. Though Ohtani has looked dominant in his own right, having not yet allowed a run in two starts, the Dodgers look to keep him fresh for the full 162-game stretch. The Bruins’ and Gamecocks’ spreads have come down a bit from their heights of -19.5 and -18.5, respectively. On the other hand, the Huskies’ spread has ballooned from its opener of -27.5. And there’s no consensus on where the right place actually is given the nature of Cup Series racing at Daytona and Talladega.

However, he hasn’t won since he took the checkered flag in the 2015 Daytona 500. As you can probably surmise from the bunched-up leaderboard, the oddsboard is a bettor’s delight. And then it’s Augusta specialists Justin Rose and Jason Day at 8-under. Right behind them at 7-under is some guy named Scottie Scheffler and Haotong Li. To learn more about the terms for our sportsbook and casino please see our Terms of Use.

• But, acknowledged, that a uniform industry-wide policy on that is still a work in progress.
• The league also said at the time it was suspending four other players — Michael Kelly, Jay Groome, José Rodríguez and Andrew Saalfrank — for a year because they bet on baseball games they were not directly tied to.
• All of the 1- and 2-seeds — and even some of the 3-seeds — are at least 20-point favorites for their first-round games.
• Eventually, the St. Louis Cardinals came out on top, and the bettor received accumulated winnings of $375,000  (approximately £286, 000).
• While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.
• They also say that regular-season betting has seen a big increase in recent years due to the growth of the women’s game.
• This was likely bad news for most bookies, who had a significant liability on UConn’s future market, with Portnoy being the largest reported bet on DraftKings.
• Three of the past four odds-on national title favorites coming into the tournament ultimately failed to win it all, which includes the last two occasions that the Huskies were in this position.
• However, there’s little doubt that we hear more about them in the present era of sports betting.
• The league announced on Oct. 26, 2023, that Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto was suspended for 41 games for activities related to sports wagering.
• It’s usually best to avoid these types of lines, even if the game outcome is not in doubt.
• The average point spread in second-round games was 7.6, the largest since the 2001 tournament.
• Yes, at ESPN BET, 72.7% of bets and 71.6% of the total amount wagered were on the Cowboys to cover the spread as small underdogs.
• As William Byron goes for his third straight Daytona 500 win, he’s hardly been at the front in any of his previous two victories.
• One of these wallets, created Tuesday around 10 am ET, placed roughly $72,000 in bets at an average price of 8.8 cents.

Assessment history

Gibbs predicted 14 games correctly and won an astonishing figure of £500,000, proving that lightning can indeed strike twice. A few of the players bet that Erick would never be able to play four straight lines of golf in a single day while carrying his own clubs, shooting below 100, and taking on the extreme Las Vegas summer heat. Lindgren proved them wrong and collected his $340,000 by the end of the day. Top stories, top movers, and trade ideas delivered to your inbox every weekday before and after the market closes.

DraftKings promo code: Score $300 bonus for Wednesday sports betting

The men’s Final Four will feature two of the tightest spreads in its history when it gets underway Saturday. Josh Berry (+4000)Berry drives for Wood Brothers Racing, a team that has a technical alliance with Team Penske. If you’re bullish on the Penske favorites, you need to also take a flier on the other driver in Penske equipment. Its three drivers are among the favorites and Cindric has the best Daytona average finish of the trio at 18.4.

We can’t talk about the biggest betting wins in history without at least mentioning the biggest online betting win! While most online gamblers join virtual casinos just to pass the time and maybe get a small pay-off every now and again, there’s one lucky person whose life completely transformed after a short time at the online slots. Each team has received substantial support from bettors, with Purdue garnering a $100,000 wager to make the Final Four at BetMGM, making the school one of the sportsbook’s largest liabilities. If a large portion of incoming bets on this market trend towards one team, the sportsbook will adjust the spread to balance the handle. For example, if a vast majority of bets coming in are on the Jets, the spread might move to Patriots -7 or Patriots -6.5.

• The phrase “good teams win but great teams cover” applies to the Huskies more than most.
• The increase in available outlets for big bettors and the prevalence of social media has led to an increase in large wagers reported by different sportsbooks.
• The content on this site is for entertainment purposes only and CBS Sports makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the information given or the outcome of any game or event.
• Preller brought flame-throwing closer Mason Miller along with starter J.P.
• NASCAR’s biggest race has evolved into what can kindly be called a crapshoot over the last five seasons.
• Not everyone can go home with the biggest sports betting win in history or earn millions of dollars after a single night at a casino.
• Instead of a large bet on one or two drivers, smaller bets on a handful of drivers — including a couple of long shots — is a much smarter play.
• Gerry ended up winning £100,000, and his friends who had the same faith in Rory won £80,000.
• The 26-year-old placed an astonishing 15-leg NFL parlay with a $5 deposit and earned her winnings by choosing the right point spread in 14 games.

Back in 1891, Wells broke the bank at Monte Carlo and collected a million Francs (over $500,000 in today’s market) after an 11-hour marathon of roulette. Gerry ended up winning £100,000, and his friends who had the same faith in Rory won £80,000. With millions of people around the world testing their luck daily, someone’s always bound to hit it big. “Certainly, prop bets, depending on how precise they are, lend themselves to more shenanigans than other kinds of bets,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in May.

However, one devoted supporter didn’t mind taking on the 5,000/1 odds and placing a £100 bet on their victory. Lo and behold, Leicester City shockingly took the victory and left the anonymous punter with £200,000 more in their bank account. He left his winnings on 17, and wouldn’t you know it – 17 rolled again.

Wager & Earn

Next year isn’t likely to see any additional states enter the sports betting fray. That includes potentially lucrative markets like Texas and California. Malik Beasley’s lawyer confirmed on June 29 that Beasley was a person of interest in a gambling-related federal investigation.

However, even Packer couldn’t sustain his winning streak for too long. By 1999, his gambling hobby had cost him about $28 million in London. Instead of taking all of the money at once, he made a deal with the casino to receive $1.5 million annually over the following 25 years. Although Tiger Woods is one of https://big-bet.org/ the most famous professional golfers in the world, betting on him hasn’t always seemed like the smartest choice.

NFL Draft odds tracker: See all the latest on top 10 picks

Flutter insisted to us that the company does take steps to protect—their term—”vulnerable customers”… sometimes banning them outright. The two largest sportsbooks in the U.S., —DraftKings and FanDuel—said the same… though declined to provide specific instances when they’ve done so. We had arranged to speak to DraftKings about all this, but abruptly, they pulled out of our scheduled on-camera interview.

NFL Draft: Buyer beware on Ty Simpson and other prospects

DraftKings Sportsbook director Johnny Avello said he couldn’t recall a time when the 1- and 2-seeds had spreads this high in the opening round. Enormous spreads in the first round of the women’s tournament are nothing new, but they’re getting even larger with the upswing in elite teams. According to ESPN Research, UConn -54.5 is the second-largest spread in the past five years, just below South Carolina -55.5 against Presbyterian in 2024. However, in that time period, that SC spread had been the only one over 50; in the 2026 tournament’s first round alone, there are four such lines. That said, despite the perceived chalkiness of the women’s game, odds-on lines are not an automatic indicator of success.

Gloria McKenzie – wins $590.5 million

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Anonymous gambler – wins $21.3 million

He chose his horses very carefully but didn’t believe much would come out of it. Phil Mickelson, a professional golfer, became quite a fan of the Baltimore Ravens even before they made it big in 2000. Seeing the team’s strength and talent after a good season, Phil made a betting syndicate and placed a $20,000 bet against the odds.

It might be considered easier to lose a spread bet due to the randomness of sports (garbage time touchdown, basketball heave at the buzzer, etc.), but that risk exists across all sports betting markets. One of the biggest long shots in betting history goes to Tayla Polia, who successfully beat 20,000 to 1 odds and won $100,005 in 2015. The 26-year-old placed an astonishing 15-leg NFL parlay with a $5 deposit and earned her winnings by choosing the right point spread in 14 games. Whether it’s hitting the jackpot, lucking out at the roulette table, or placing the perfect bet on betting sites, take a look at a few of the biggest betting wins in the UK and abroad in the past few decades. In April 2023, the NFL suspended four then-Detroit Lions players — Jameson Williams, Quintez Cephus, C.J. Moore and Stanley Berryhill — and then-Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney for sports betting. Williams and Berryhill received six-game suspensions for betting on non-NFL games from an NFL facility, while Cephus, Moore and Toney were suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games.

More NFL games are coming — and so are new challenges to manage

It was the NHL’s first betting-related suspension in the era of online gambling. Further, every one of those teams has increased the spread since the opening of betting and, in some cases, by as many as three points, largely due to bettor support. Houston, for example, has received 87% of the bets and handle at DraftKings, pushing the school from -22.5 to -23.5 against Idaho. At BetMGM, Duke -27.5 is getting the fourth-most spread bets by handle. While those big-money bettors gladly snap up those larger spreads at open, casual bettors tend to gravitate toward the tighter spreads and money lines, according to bookmakers. Glose also notes that in-play betting tends get a lot of attention, especially at an in-person book like his.

$3.1 million on Philadelphia Eagles ML (- to beat Carolina Panthers in Week 14

This was especially true in 2019 when 11 years had passed since his last championship victory. There are quite a few success stories out there about people who tried their luck and got their money’s worth and more. The house always wins, but that doesn’t mean that a regular Joe or Jane gets the short end of the stick every time.

• Caesars also said it was the first Super Bowl in which more game parlays were bet than the more traditional straight wagers.
• Here’s a look at the field ahead of the first Cup Series race of the season.
• Following Daynard’s tobacco playbook, in December they filed the first in what they say will be a series of lawsuits… suing DraftKings in Massachusetts for deceptive advertising…
• Newly created accounts placed large wagers hours before the January capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and made hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.
• The Gamecocks and Huskies have been in this position before, showing -17.5 in this round in 2024 and 2025, and 2021, respectively.
• He placed a £2 bet on the six winners for the day, and surprisingly he got them all right.
• And there have been plenty of seven-figure parlay wins off of smaller wagers, as well.
• DraftKings opened with the Huskies as 1.5-point underdogs and immediately took action on the Fighting Illini, forcing a move up to 2.5.
• Hockey spreads operate in a similar way and are referred to as a puck line.
• Since 1985, the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Tournament has featured a bracket of at least 64 teams seeded 1 through 16 in four different regions.
• Atlanta also had 72% of the spread handle at BetMGM and 51% at FanDuel.
• Mizuhara was ultimately sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani to cover sports gambling debts.
• William Byron (+1400)Can Byron continue to be in the right place at the right time?
• But, after two hours at the “Golden Chamber”, Beverly was shocked to see that she hit the jackpot of $3.7 million!
• But only one could break the record, as the two users had opposite picks in the St. John’s-Kansas matchup.

In general, double-digit favorites in the regional semifinals or later are 14-4 straight up, but 6-12 against the spread since 2021. South Carolina is 2-7 ATS in this position, while UConn is 2-3 ATS; UCLA has never been this large a favorite at this stage over that time period. In the other contest, UConn-Illinois needed some market correction to reach its tight line. DraftKings opened with the Huskies as 1.5-point underdogs and immediately took action on the Fighting Illini, forcing a move up to 2.5. From there, the sportsbook got buyback on UConn, bringing the spread back down. Our betting buzz file, with contributions from David Purdum, Doug Greenberg and others, aims to provide fans a look at the sports betting stories that are driving the conversation.

Men’s Final Four features tightest spreads on record

“Friday was a disaster,” Joe Brennan, executive chairman for Prime Sportsbook in Ohio and New Jersey, told ESPN. “We got beat on both pregame and live, though most of the damage was on the pregame money line and spread. We lost on everything for the game. Ouch.” All the same, the Falcons were a hot commodity in the betting markets, attracting the fifth-most spread tickets at ESPN BET and the 11th-highest handle at DraftKings. Atlanta also had 72% of the spread handle at BetMGM and 51% at FanDuel.

Men’s tourney: Arizona, Michigan co-title favorites, Wolverines a slight matchup faveDoug Greenberg

When Tiger Woods won the Masters Tournament, Adducci got a huge pay-off of $1.2 million. The history of betting has been made, making it the biggest individual payout on a futures bet. One of the best bets in Mike Futter’s betting career was when he decided to wager on his own horse – Monty’s Pass. When Monty’s Pass won the race, Futter received £348,000 as his owner and an extra £400,000 for his successful bet.

This was likely bad news for most bookies, who had a significant liability on UConn’s future market, with Portnoy being the largest reported bet on DraftKings. Barstool Founder Dave Portnoy just won the biggest bet of his life. The line opened May 20 at ESPN BET and has ticked down toward the Jets.

How come the rich just keep getting richer, no matter what they do? Before the turn of the century, Australian billionaire Kerry Packer decided to try his luck at baccarat and blackjack, accumulating several astonishing wins in a single evening. It’s estimated that he took anywhere between $20 million and $40 million – the exact figure is unknown since he had quite a few wins over the course of the evening. In September 2018, an anonymous gambler joined the Mega Moolah at the Grand Mondial Online Casino and posted just a $0.75 deposit.

Get the lowdown on the Best Sports Betting Sites and Apps

Heading into the Wild Card game, the Eagles were also missing leading wide receiver A.J. Brown, who led the team with 106 receptions, 1,456 receiving yards and 158 targets. Brown’s seven receiving touchdowns were tied for the lead on the team. The collapse by the Eagles heading into the postseason could be the reason for the bet. The Eagles fan bet on their favorite team to lose the opening round of the NFL Playoffs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Instead of accepting her full prize in 30 monthly instalments, Gloria decided to cash in her prize immediately, so she received only half of the money (still more than enough for any single person).

My first bet: Early picks for NFL Week 2ESPN

• She visited Vegas for the holidays, and before long, she ended up with under $100 in her wallet.
• The massive performance vaulted him to +550 at ESPN BET, where he is now the second favorite, behind only Patrick Mahomes (+375).
• He’s still recovering from a broken leg suffered in a fall during the offseason.
• Every grandparent dreams of seeing their grandchildren succeed and make a name for themselves, and Peter Edwardson was no different.
• For example, DraftKings Sportsbook set the point spread for a matchup between the New England Patriots and New York Jets at 7.5.
• He shot 2-under on Thursday and followed that up by flying 3-under par in each of the next two rounds.
• From season-changing injuries to record-setting moments and so much more, the news cycle will constantly and significantly affect the sports betting industry.
• Houston, for example, has received 87% of the bets and handle at DraftKings, pushing the school from -22.5 to -23.5 against Idaho.
• None of the other five favorites that lost Thursday — Ohio State, North Carolina, Saint Mary’s, Georgia and BYU — were favored by more than three points.
• Instead of a large bet on one or two drivers, smaller bets on a handful of drivers — including a couple of long shots — is a much smarter play.
• History was made in the ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge on Sunday, as one user broke the game’s record for the longest undefeated start.

Levant showed us what gambling today entails… it was an NFL Sunday, though on DraftKings, the betting options extended far beyond football. DraftKings Sportsbook director Johnny Avello says Connecticut appears to be returning to its dynastic form, explaining its popularity with the public, as well as its eye-popping 54.5-point spread over UTSA in the first round. “In the past, UConn just had to win the game by 30, which was a given,” he said. You can also give it a second try on the women’s side, where 166 perfect brackets remain after three days of action. They are all chasing the ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge record of 57-0, set last season.

Sportsbooks will also note whether sharp bettors (bettors with strong winning records) are putting their money on a certain side and may adjust the line as a result. Books will also take line movement at competing sportsbooks under consideration. Circa Survivor, a high-stakes NFL betting contest hosted by a Las Vegas casino, has a $1,000 buy-in and a $14.2 million grand prize.