LAS VEGAS — Duffel Bag Boy's hot streak has come to an end.
The infamous, deep-pocketed bettor lost over $500,000 thanks to a straight-up loss by Purdue as 2.5-point favorites against Michigan State. It was reported that Duffel Bag Boy had every bet hinged on Purdue winning that game as they were a Pick 'Em when he bet the game.
He had numerous straight bets totaling $230,000 at three different Las Vegas locations and then approximately another $200,000 on various parlays that included Clemson and Houston.
While the outcomes of the Clemson and Houston games were never in doubt, the questionable Purdue bet likely had our friend sweating up until the final few minutes of the game.
The Boilermakers had a chance to tie the game but a blocked field goal by Michigan State killed all of Duffel Bag Boy's bets. Had Purdue covered, it would have pushed his winnings over the past three weeks well north of $3 million.
Bookmakers React to Todd Gurley's Decision
We're still just getting to the bottom of the betting fallout from Todd Gurley's decision to give himself up.
The Rams' running back's decision not to score a touchdown late in the game against the Packers — which gave Green Bay the cover, kept the game under the total and swung fantasy matchups worldwide — ended up costing Vegas sportsbooks big time.
The crazy finish resulted in a $1 million swing in favor of the bettors around Las Vegas. Gurley giving himself up resulted in six-figure swings at MGM, the Westgate and William Hill.
"The game closed at the Rams all the way down to -7.5 here, but it seemed like everyone in the room had the Rams because all you could hear was a shout of shock when Gurley went down," Mirage sportsbook director Jeff Stoneback said.
Caesar's sportsbook director Bill Sattler reported more two-way action at his shop.
"I haven't heard such a mixed reaction in the book probably since the Super Bowl," Sattler said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "There were a lot of moans and groans and cheers all at the same time. That was a bad beat for a lot of people."
Stoneback added that his outfit needed Minnesota to beat New Orleans on Sunday Night Football to avoid a disastrous day. The Saints won and covered, of course, making this past Sunday the worst of the season for MGM overall.
It was the same story at the South Point.
Sportsbook supervisor Tim Fitzgerald said all the late games Sunday really hurt the books; the Rams result was just piling on at that point.
"We were loaded up on Green Bay money," Fitzgerald said. "So it hurt definitely, but it didn't have a huge impact on us since we were already buried by that point."
Even though the Packers-Rams game is still the talk of the town, it wasn't the biggest decision of the season to this point for the South Point.
"The Bears-Patriots game from last week outdid this game by a large margin," the bookmaker explained. "But the way the Rams game hurt us so much was with the teasers. You have 12 games on Sunday, you have 12 possible winners on the spread and 12 totals so that's 48 possible outcomes. The bettors went 36-12 on that so there was simply no scenario in the Rams game that we were going to come out ahead. But we're not crying about it, it's inevitable we're going to eventually have a week like this."
William Hill was dealt a big blow by Gurley, although they were hurt by one particular bet more than anything.
When the Packers covered, a Nevada bettor hit a five-leg "Off the Board" parlay on the William Hill mobile app, turning a $25,000 wager into a $533,055.55 net win.
Here's how that parlay unfolded:
- Boston Celtics -3.5 (-110)
- Miami Heat -1.5 (-110)
- San Antonio Spurs +105
- Cincinnati Bengals -180
- Packers (+8.5)
Amazingly, that bettor also played the Packers at +7 for $100,000. Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading at William Hill, put it into perspective, "If Gurley goes in the end zone the guy loses $125,000 and if he kneels he wins a little over $600,000. So it was an expensive knee."
Overall, with the Patriots covering on Monday, William Hill ended taking a seven-figure hit.
Early Alabama-LSU Lookahead
We'll have more from the bookmakers on the Alabama-LSU game later in the week but the betting picture is already taking shape.
"We already know we are going to need LSU first-half (Bogdanovich expects it the 1H line to be Alabama -8) and I expect we'll need LSU to cover the game, too," Bogdanovich said. "The sharps are going to determine the final line. If they like LSU, I can see it ending up at +14 or even +13.5. If they lay off the game, I could see the line going to -14.5 or -15 for Alabama."
