[h=1]A tough day for one Delaware bettor[/h] [h=3]How the Eagles cost a bettor $100K, plus early Week 4 CFB line moves[/h]
Originally Published: September 18, 2014
<cite class="source"> By David Purdum | ESPN.com</cite>
Aaron Lewis is a novice sports bettor who doesn't gamble often. The 29-year-old from Dover, Delaware, admits that he's not even that big of a football fan. But he has an epic NFL gambling tale to tell.
Around noon on Sunday, Lewis popped into the sports book at Dover Downs. It was a last-minute decision. He bet a total of $25 on a few parlay cards offered by the Delaware Sports Lottery, including a $5, 15-team parlay that paid $100,000.
In the past, Lewis had poked fun at his brother for scouring through stats before making picks. On Sunday, Lewis didn't even bother to look at what teams he was picking on the 15-teamer.
"I basically just filled in the bubbles on the bottom of the card without even looking at who I was taking," Lewis told ESPN in a Wednesday phone interview.
One by one, his random selections started to come through. He checked off all the 1 o'clock games as winners and sent a picture of the promising card to his brother.
<cite>Aaron Lewis </cite>A photo of the ticket that almost won.
His picks on the late games hit, too. He then watched at home, yelling at the TV as the Chicago Bears rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Sunday night game. Another winner. He was 14-0 and needed the Indianapolis Colts to beat the Philadelphia Eagles by more than a field goal Monday night to win $100,000 off his $5 last-minute bet.
Lewis tried to stay even-keeled in the hours leading up to the Monday night game. He didn't want to think too much about what he would buy if he won, although he admits to having hopes of replacing his 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier.
"It was my first car," said Lewis, who works in e-commerce.
He tried to hedge his bet and looked into ways to wager some money on the Eagles. He even contacted a friend in England, where sports betting is legal, to see if they could put down some money on the underdog Eagles for him. Even a $100 bet on Philadelphia would have locked in some sort of profit. But nothing panned out, and a quick flight to Las Vegas wasn't an option.
"Honestly, if I would have flown to Vegas, I wouldn't have even known really where to start [to try and place a bet]," Lewis said.
Stuck in Delaware, he wound up at the Green Turtle sports bar with friends and family for the Monday night game. They were surrounded by Eagles fans.
Word spread around the bar about Lewis' situation. The bar manager came out and promised that he wouldn't root for the Eagles anywhere near Lewis' table.
Lewis was too nervous to eat and only had a couple beers during the game. The Colts jumped out to an early lead and were up 14 in the third quarter, before things began to unravel. The Eagles capitalized on two Colts' turnovers and won 30-27 on a last-second field goal.
"It was a big sinking feeling, especially with the kind of game it was, coming down to the last quarter, the last three minutes," Lewis said. "I tried to take it in stride and wasn't visibly angry. But it was life-changing money. I went to McDonald's afterwards."
Originally Published: September 18, 2014
<cite class="source"> By David Purdum | ESPN.com</cite>
Aaron Lewis is a novice sports bettor who doesn't gamble often. The 29-year-old from Dover, Delaware, admits that he's not even that big of a football fan. But he has an epic NFL gambling tale to tell.
Around noon on Sunday, Lewis popped into the sports book at Dover Downs. It was a last-minute decision. He bet a total of $25 on a few parlay cards offered by the Delaware Sports Lottery, including a $5, 15-team parlay that paid $100,000.
In the past, Lewis had poked fun at his brother for scouring through stats before making picks. On Sunday, Lewis didn't even bother to look at what teams he was picking on the 15-teamer.
"I basically just filled in the bubbles on the bottom of the card without even looking at who I was taking," Lewis told ESPN in a Wednesday phone interview.
One by one, his random selections started to come through. He checked off all the 1 o'clock games as winners and sent a picture of the promising card to his brother.
His picks on the late games hit, too. He then watched at home, yelling at the TV as the Chicago Bears rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Sunday night game. Another winner. He was 14-0 and needed the Indianapolis Colts to beat the Philadelphia Eagles by more than a field goal Monday night to win $100,000 off his $5 last-minute bet.
Lewis tried to stay even-keeled in the hours leading up to the Monday night game. He didn't want to think too much about what he would buy if he won, although he admits to having hopes of replacing his 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier.
"It was my first car," said Lewis, who works in e-commerce.
He tried to hedge his bet and looked into ways to wager some money on the Eagles. He even contacted a friend in England, where sports betting is legal, to see if they could put down some money on the underdog Eagles for him. Even a $100 bet on Philadelphia would have locked in some sort of profit. But nothing panned out, and a quick flight to Las Vegas wasn't an option.
"Honestly, if I would have flown to Vegas, I wouldn't have even known really where to start [to try and place a bet]," Lewis said.
Stuck in Delaware, he wound up at the Green Turtle sports bar with friends and family for the Monday night game. They were surrounded by Eagles fans.
Word spread around the bar about Lewis' situation. The bar manager came out and promised that he wouldn't root for the Eagles anywhere near Lewis' table.
Lewis was too nervous to eat and only had a couple beers during the game. The Colts jumped out to an early lead and were up 14 in the third quarter, before things began to unravel. The Eagles capitalized on two Colts' turnovers and won 30-27 on a last-second field goal.
"It was a big sinking feeling, especially with the kind of game it was, coming down to the last quarter, the last three minutes," Lewis said. "I tried to take it in stride and wasn't visibly angry. But it was life-changing money. I went to McDonald's afterwards."
