A punter’s $15 sports bet ballooned into a staggering $142,000 win last week. The bettor had wagered on a three-leg parlay, predicting the first touchdown scorers in three separate NFL games. Parlay betting, a type of wager that hinges on multiple winning outcomes, has been growing in popularity among sports bettors. It offers the potential for small bets to accumulate into substantial payouts. “The real appeal of them is the kind of insane payout rate,” Joshua Grubbs, an associate professor at
A punter’s $15 sports bet ballooned into a staggering $142,000 win last week. The bettor had wagered on a three-leg parlay, predicting the first touchdown scorers in three separate NFL games.
Parlay betting, a type of wager that hinges on multiple winning outcomes, has been growing in popularity among sports bettors. It offers the potential for small bets to accumulate into substantial payouts.
“The real appeal of them is the kind of insane payout rate,” Joshua Grubbs, an associate professor at the University of New Mexico told Fortune.
While bettors can score big, sportsbooks are the ultimate beneficiaries, profiting from the escalating sports betting craze. In 2024, sports betting revenues hit $13.71 billion, a 25.4% jump from the previous year, based on figures from the American Gaming Association.
Parlays have emerged as a major income stream for sportsbooks. In 2023, over 70% of NFL and NBA wagers on FanDuel, a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment, were parlays. In the same year, parlays made up 56% of betting revenue in Illinois, New Jersey, and Colorado, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The sports betting sector has witnessed a boom since a 2018 Supreme Court decision effectively overturned a prohibition on sports gambling, leading to its legalization in 38 states.
The industry has also reported a 7% annual increase in online sports betting activity among Gen Z in the second quarter of 2025, as per a TransUnion report.
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This article Here's How One Bettor Turned a $15 Wager Into $140K With a Three-Leg Parlay originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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Category: General Sports
