There was a tidal wave of big bets over the weekend, on NFL Week 2 odds and college football Week 3 odds. 

And for some strange reason, there were several major moneyline wagers on heavy favorites.

To clarify, if needed: With a moneyline wager, a team just has to win its game, regardless of final margin. But taking huge favorites requires betting a lot to win a little.

One college football bettor took that to the extreme, with a wager of more than half a million dollars.

More on that bet and other notable plays, as we recap the weekend that was in NFL and college football betting. And we’ll even throw in a few knockout bets that landed on boxing.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

Moneyline Mania

Sixth-ranked Oregon was a 25.5-point favorite at Northwestern. So the corresponding moneyline price — the odds on the Ducks just winning the game — was a massive -5000 at Hard Rock Bet.

That meant it would take a $5,000 bet to win just $100. So one high-roller decided to multiply that $5,000 by 100 and then some, to make it more worthwhile.

The bettor put $515,000 on Oregon, which then went out and won 34-14, allowing Northwestern no points until the fourth quarter.

The profit on that bet: $10,300. 

Total payout: $525,300. 

On that same matchup, a Caesars Sports customer put $21,000 on Oregon -7000, to net a profit of … $300.

Several more five-figure bets landed on big moneyline favorites Saturday, including these at Caesars Sports:

• $70,000 Ohio State -7000 vs. Ohio. The Buckeyes won 37-9, and the bettor profited $1,000 (total payout $71,000).
• $50,000 Oklahoma -1700 vs. Temple. The Sooners rolled 42-3, so the customer banked $2,941 profit (total payout $52,941).
• $13,000 Alabama -1400 vs. Wisconsin. The Crimson Tide won 38-14, and the bettor netted $928.57 (total payout $13,928.57).

Big Bucks on Boxing

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming on football bets to talk boxing. 

Saturday night’s showdown between Terence Crawford and Canelo Álvarez, before 70,000 fans at Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, drew the two largest major wagers of the weekend.

BetMGM took a $2 million bet on Crawford +140 to win. At Caesars Palace, a customer plunked down $715,000 on Crawford +140. And Caesars Sports took another big six-figure play, as well, $300,000 on Crawford +140. 

Álvarez got in on the act, too, with BetMGM taking a $300,000 bet on Canelo -185. That bet lost, as Crawford won by unanimous decision to cash those three huge tickets.

The $2 million bet netted $2.8 million profit (total payout $4.8 million); the $715,000 wager profited $1.001 million (total payout $1.716 million); and the $300,000 play profited $420,000 (total payout $720,000).

Parlay Partay

Let’s start with a parlay that runs to Monday night’s Chargers vs. Raiders game. A DraftKings Sportsbook customer mixed in a lot of NFL and a couple of MLB plays on a $20 15-leg parlay. 

All that remains is Chargers -3.5. If L.A. wins by 4 or more points, then that 20 bucks turns into $63,947.95.

DraftKings is offering a cashout of $27,797.54. Would you take the cashout, or let it ride?

Another DraftKings customer put $50 on a four-leg anytime touchdown parlay: Lions wideout Jameson Williams; Bengals wideout Tee Higgins; Cowboys wideout George Pickens; Rams wideout Davante Adams.

All four players found the end zone Sunday. Odds for that parlay were +45871, or in easier-to-digest terms, about 459/1. But the bettor utilized a 50% odds boost to take the price to +68807, or about 688/1.

So a $50 bet became $34,453.50.

Wrapping it up, DraftKings took a $500 bet on an 11-leg NFL moneyline parlay: 

The Cowboys nearly blew up that ticket, as did the Indianapolis Colts, who needed a huge lucky break on a penalty to beat Denver 29-28. Bottom line, though, the bet got there, and the customer won a whopping $90,375 (total payout $90,875).

Bad Bets

A couple of colleges didn’t make actual bets. But they gambled large by scheduling home games against perceived cupcake opponents, paying those schools a bucket of money for their road-trip troubles.

UCLA was a 15.5-point favorite vs. New Mexico, which received $1.2 million for Saturday’s visit to the Rose Bowl. The Lobos repaid that favor by pounding the Bruins 35-10. 

Also, Virginia Tech paid Old Dominion $400,000 to make a cross-state trip to Blacksburg, where the Hokies were relatively modest 5.5-point home favorites.

But the Monarchs embarrassed VaTech 45-26.

I Like Big Bets and I Cannot Lie

As noted above, big money was flying around sportsbooks across the nation. Let’s recap some of the more notable major wagers, starting with the NFL.

• $250,000 Commanders-Packers Under 48 (BetMGM). Green Bay won 27-18, and the bettor profited $227,272.73 (total payout $477,272.73)
• $240,000 Packers -3 (-120) vs. Commanders (Caesars). The Pack win by nine, so the bettor nets $200,000 profit (total payout $440,000).
• $189,000 Falcons +3 (-105) vs. Vikings (Caesars). Atlanta won 22-6, giving the bettor $180,000 profit (total payout $369,000).
• $100,000 Patriots +2 (-120) vs. Dolphins (Caesars). New England won 33-27, and the bettor profited $83,000 (total payout $183,000).
• $85,000 Ravens moneyline -850 vs. Browns (DraftKings). Baltimore rolled 41-17, and the bettor bagged $10,000 in profit (total payout $95,000).
• $75,000 Falcons +3.5 (-115) vs. Vikings (DraftKings). That’s a bank-account boost of $65,217.39 (total payout $140,217.39).

And how about this positive player-prop payout: A Fanatics Sportsbook customer put $100,000 on Colts QB Daniel Jones to have 300 or more passing yards, at odds of +550.

Jones threw for 316 yards in a 29-28 victory over the Broncos. And the bettor pocketed a hefty windfall of $550,000.

And a few from the college football Week 3 odds market, starting with a big donation to the house:

• $165,000 South Carolina -3 vs. Vanderbilt (Caesars). The Gamecocks lost QB LaNorris Sellers to a second-quarter head injury, and Vandy rolled to a 31-7 road win.
• $165,000 Tennessee +4 vs. Georgia (Caesars). The bettor squeaked by when the Vols lost by just 3 points, 44-41 in overtime. So that’s profit of $150,000 (total payout $315,000).
• $165,000 Houston -4.5 vs. Colorado (Caesars). The Cougars won 36-20, giving the bettor a $150,000 win (total payout $315,000).
• $100,000 Georgia moneyline -180 vs. Tennessee (DraftKings). The Bulldogs could’ve and perhaps should’ve lost. But they won 44-41 in overtime, and the bettor profited $55,555.55 (total payout $155,555.55).

I could go on forever with these kinds of bet from the past weekend. But you get the point. 

Here’s another point: These big plays usually come from high-roller/casino VIP types who have the bankroll to absorb the loss.

So be reasonable with your wagers. Don’t bet your rent money or dip into the kid’s college fund. 

Enjoy the Monday night doubleheader!

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!

---

---