It's past midnight in the middle of his honeymoon in Capri and Steven Azrak is glued to his iPad.
Normally, the newly married Azrak wouldn't get this kind of pass at the Grand Hotel Quisisana, but the wife — who Azrak says doesn't know a football from a basketball — knows what's at stake.
$104,979.84.
You see, Azrak and two of his childhood friends have one of the wildest bets going.
Disappointed in the short odds on Cy Young, the three placed an MVP parlay on New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom and Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani on March 31.
Individually, deGrom was 50-1 to win MVP. Ohtani was 20-1.
As a parlay? 1070 to 1.
"Two of us are Mets fans, so we liked the deGrom side of the bet," Azrak said. "On Ohtani, it was a little bit of a risk because he was coming off surgery, but we felt like if he could pitch well and do more with the bat there was a shot."
The official ticket is $467.20 to win $499,904. Azrak has 21 percent of the bet, while the other two friends have 39.5 percent each.
"We originally tried to get down $1,000 to win more than $1 million," Azrak said. "But FanDuel limited us and that's how we wound up a bet of with $467.20."
FanDuel does not offer any cashout options on MVP markets, spokesman Kevin Hennessy said. But Luke Pergande, founder of PropSwap, which allows people to buy and sell their bets, said the ticket is currently worth $190,000. That's because Ohtani is now -290 to win AL MVP and deGrom is -105.
While the three men watch Mets and Angels games religiously now, they agreed they won't go see Ohtani nor deGrom in person. The one time they went to see each of them, Ohtani got shellacked and deGrom left early.
On Monday and Tuesday, Ohtani will own the spotlight as he steps in as the betting favorite in the Home Run Derby, starts on the mound for the American League and leads off as the team's designated hitter. Tuesday could be an opportunity for deGrom as well, but he's passed on the chance to appear in the game so he can rest.
The All-Star Game festivities are a source of contention for the three men.
"The other two guys want (Ohtani) to win the Home Run Derby and win the All-Star Game MVP," Azrak said. "I don't like what I've seen from home run hitters post-Derby. I want him in bubble wrap or on vacation like deGrom."
