Cosmopolitan Bettor Hits Grand Slam, Nails Eight-Team Baseball Parlay, Turning $250 Into More Than $38,000

Posted on: August 31, 2019, 02:00h. 

Last updated on: August 31, 2019, 11:31h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

In baseball, a grand slam accounts for four runs. Using that metaphor, a recent visitor to the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas drove in eight runs by getting each pick correct in an eight-team parlay on Major League Baseball (MLB) games.

A bettor will always love the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Sportsbook after winning $38,000 there. (Image: TripSavvy)

The better laid $250 to win $38,216, meaning, with the win, the initial investment was multiplied by nearly 153x. To put that return on investment into context, it is vastly superior to what an investor would have today if he or she had bought one share of Amazon.com stock at $20 in late 1998. That return on investment would work out to about 89x based on Friday’s close.

Parlays, also known as “accumulators” in gambling markets outside the US, attract bettors with the allure of high payouts on small wagers (low risk, high reward). The rub for gamblers is that they must get each game in the parlay correct for the bet to be considered a winner, a task that grows more difficult with each leg added to the bet.

In a traditional eight-team parlay using spreads, not money lines, at standard -110 odds (bet $110 to win $100), the Las Vegas payout on such a bet is 150/1, double the reward on a seven-team parlay.

Another way of looking at parlays is that these are lottery ticket bets. Gamblers take the flier knowing the odds are against them, and with many more losers than winners, these bets are cash cows for the house, because the house usually wins.

Last year, Nevada casinos hauled in nearly $23 million on parlays, accounting for 9.21 percent of the total take on sports betting for that year, according to UNLV data. From 1992 through 2018, gamblers bet $1.74 billion on parlays in Nevada, with an average win percentage for Silver State casinos over that period of nearly 31 percent.

Inside The Baseball Bet

The bettor’s eight-team parlay placed at the Cosmopolitan Sportsbook, which is operated by CG Technology, consisted of five money line bets and three totals, according to a picture of the winning slip posted on CG’s Twitter feed.

Of the games, all of which took place on Aug. 26, the bettor had just one underdog, the St. Louis Cardinals at +121, meaning that a $100 bet on that game on a standalone basis would have netted a gambler $121. Odds on the favorites in the parlay ranged from -105 (bet $105 to win $100) to -156 (bet $156 to win $100).

Of the totals in the parlay, the bettor had two overs and one under. The game that likely caused the gambler the most heartburn was the Pittsburgh Pirates/Philadelphia Phillies clash. The bettor had the Phillies on the money line, and the team needed a walk-off home run to win that game.

Expect More Parlays

With college football season kicking off in earnest this weekend, and the NFL following suit on Sept. 5, sportsbooks will likely be seeing more parlays.

The Mirage Sportsbook on the Las Vegas reports seeing teams such as Army, Oklahoma State and Wisconsin as among the most frequent popping up in parlays, including this weekend’s games.