Jacksonville Jaguars Help Gambler Snatch DraftKings’ $1 Million Top Prize

A brave bettor was among the rare group of people to place a bet on the Jacksonville Jaguars to win against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and that bet paid off majorly. The sports fan was on the side of the Jaguars in a key parlay bet and, in doing so, managed to win $1 million in the Sports Betting National Championship by DraftKings.

Winner Identified As tus0323

Of course, the winner remained anonymous and all that is known is that his username is “tus0323.” The bettor had a three-leg parlay – Denver Broncos +6.5 points in the first half versus the Dallas Cowboys, Jaguars by +14.5 points and the game between the Jaguars and the Bills to be under 49 points. All three were winning combinations, and the one thing that made this bet so daring is the fact that many expected the Bills to have a significant scoring tally. In the end, however, they didn’t even manage to get a touchdown.

By the time the fourth quarter started in the early-window games in the NFL, “tus0323” was already on the winning side, as his $24,900 wager was already turned into $169,665.36. The entrant’s total winning was $169,747.17, meaning it provided almost all gains. He (or she) gets to keep that money and the $1 million top prize.

The username “jetsr2cool” was the runner-up as, having wagered almost twice as much during the event as the money that was put down by the winner ($63,100). However, “jetsr2cool” settled for a win of $139,641.03 and the second-place check, which was worth $250,000. A majority of the winnings were contributed by the Arizona Cardinals, who beat the San Francisco 49ers. Even though jetsr2cool led on Friday night thanks to three successful all-in bets, no parlays were included.

Finally, the top three closed off with Grant Neiffer, a contributor to a site that is owned by NJ Online Gambling’s same parent company and it is known as Scores and Odds. Neiffer appeared on the Gamble On podcast at the start of the NFL season and managed to win $109,478.06 by four parlay wins. He placed the bets under the name “gneiffer07” and his combined tally with the additional $100,000 that he got as the third-ranked bettor was $209,478.06.

The Crowd Consisted of Professional Gamblers Who Could Afford High-Stakes Bets

During NFL Sundays, all Vegas sportsbooks praise the fact that there’s a lot of play-by-play cheering. The FanDuel sportsbook at the well-known Meadowlands Racetrack, a brand that recently got a new identity in Pennsylvania, also reported massive play-by-play cheering and that might’ve been true at this Sunday Weehawken event in Manhattan’s shadow.

But, even though dozes of bettors watched the first half of the NFL action on Sunday at the Envue Hotel, the atmosphere was quiet, which some considered a bit odd, considering the fact that the buy-in stake was $10,000 and the top prize was $1 million. 

The reason why the atmosphere was quiet is that the people that were present were mostly professional gamblers who had no trouble affording the stakes. Moreover, they were aware of the fact that if their initial stake disappeared, they would’ve received a refund.

Johnny Avello, a DraftKings bookmaker, spoke to NJ Online Gambling while watching the first half of Sunday’s early NFL games and said that this was the best option to make customers content. While speaking about the low wager limits for numerous entrants, which is something that led to a lot of social media criticism, Avello added that what happened on Friday happened for everybody across the board, which is why that particular decision was made.

Additionally, Avello understood the fact that some bettors’ plan was to jump in on Saturday afternoon with a late entry if the top prizes looked obtainable. Still, the ruling on Saturday morning imposed a ban on that type of traffic. He said that because of the decision to return the money to everyone, others couldn’t be allowed to join at that time.

A Limit on Entrants Was Set to Avoid an Overlay

DraftKings’ upper limit on entrants to avoid an overlay was set at 445; however, Avello acknowledged that the contest was a bit short, even though remote entries were added in Virginia, West Virginia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Iowa, Wyoming, Tennessee and Colorado. According to official data, the final tally included 215 entrants and it is believed that it would’ve been higher if the last-minute rule change on Saturday did not take place.

As DraftKings reported, New Jersey dominated the contest, as 35% of the entrants were from that region. Pennsylvania was ranked second with 18%, Colorado closed the top three with 12% and Michigan was at 11%.

In the beginning, entrants started with a $5,000 bankroll and could keep whatever they got left. If they finished below $10,000, they got back $10,000. Bonus prizes for top finishers were also up for keeping. Those that finished between 21^st and 25^th got a $10,000 bonus, while the 10th place bonus was $25,000.

A daily confirmed negative COVID-19 test result was required by all in-person attendees. The results had to be obtained via an on-site testing provider as results from other companies were not considered eligible.

The contest in 2020 was scrapped off due to the pandemic. DraftKings attempted such a contest in Jersey City in January 2019 but faced a lot of controversies, which is the reason why so many changes had to be implemented this year. Some of those changes included lowering the top prize money to $2 million (the previous top prize was $2.5 million), setting a time limit to the wagers as they had to be completed by 1 pm ET on Sunday, and limiting the number of available sports to just NBA, college football and NFL.