NFL Betting: One Philadelphia Eagles’ Bettor Learned There’s No Such Thing As Free Money
The Philadelphia Eagles entered Monday night with a perfect 8-0 record. They were at home, in front of a primetime crowd, going up against what most considered a relatively mediocre Washington Commanders team. Ahead of kickoff, most people expected that the Eagles would move to 9-0.
Betting the game is a different story. Philadelphia was an 11-point favorite. That’s a lot of points to lay in a divisional game against a team that entered winning three of their last four games. Washington isn’t a doormat. Double digit spreads are never fun to lay.
One bettor at BetMGM didn’t want to deal with the sweat and instead placed a bet that he probably thought was going to be an easy winner. It ended up being a big loser.
Bettor laid -550 on the moneyline
While betting against the spread is the most popular way to bet NFL games, it’s not the only way. You can simply bet on a team to win the game outright and not worry about the point differential. Moneyline odds vary based on the probability of each team winning.
Ahead of kickoff, the Eagles were -550 favorites to beat the Washington Commanders. Those odds implied that Philadelphia had nearly an 85% chance of winning the game. If you’re betting games at those odds, you’d need to risk $550 to win $100 in profit. That’s the downside. The plus side is you don’t need to worry about missed extra points, backdoor covers or any other random factors that can mess with a point spread.
A bettor in West Virginia felt pretty good about the Eagles winning the game on Monday. They risked $331,000 on the Eagles moneyline. The bet would have paid out a measly $60,182 if the Eagles improved to 9-0.
Eagles lost outright
However, at some point, every bettor learns there’s no such thing as free money. On paper, it was hard to envision a world where Washington could beat the Eagles in their own stadium. There’s a reason Philadelphia was such a massive favorite.
However, the games aren’t played on paper.
Early on, it looked like the Eagles were going to run the Commanders out of the building. Less than two minutes in, they forced a Taylor Heinicke fumble and recovered inside the red zone. Jalen Hurts turned that turnover into seven points in just three plays.
However, Washington quickly found their rhythm. They dominated time of possession. They scored on five straight drives. They entered halftime with a lead and opened up a two-score lead in the third quarter.
However, the undefeated Eagles weren’t going down without a fight. They cut Washington’s lead to two points with a DeVonta Smith touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. On Washington’s next drive, Heinicke was intercepted. Dallas Goedert then fumbled the ball back to Washington on what was an egregious missed face-mask call. Washington extended their lead to five with a field goal.
The Eagles looked like they were going to take the lead when Hurts found Quez Watkins for a 50-yard gain. However, Watkins, who dove for the catch, got back up without being touched and then fumbled the ball.
The teams exchanged punts, and it looked like the Eagles were about to get the ball back with a chance for a game-winning drive. However, on third down, the Eagles were hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty for hitting Heinicke after he gave himself up.
That was basically the game, as the Eagles got the ball back with five seconds left and tried to string together some laterals, which ultimately resulted in a final defensive touchdown for Washington.
The Eagles were undefeated no more. The bettor thought they were making an easy $60,000 when placing the bet, but instead, they learned there’s no such thing as free money. It’s highly unlikely that anyone betting over $300,000 on games needs the money, but it’s still an expensive lesson to learn.
Pete Trustzkowski:
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