The Winning Ticket

This is a fictional account of what could’ve happened to any number of sports fans across the country during the Summer of 2016 if sports gambling is as commonplace as it will be all across the United States in the not-so-distant future.

“Are you sure it’s legit? Like, it’s legal, right? I’ll get the money back if I win?”

“I’m positive it’s legit. You know how my wife and I went on that trip to the Bahamas for her birthday?”

“Yeah?”

“Well how do you think I paid for that?”

“I figured you just saved up.”

“Yeah, I saved up alright. I saved up all the money I won during the Playoffs last year.”

“Wow, you did that well?”

“Oh yeah man. A trip to Nassau and I had money to spare. Got my kid a pair of Steph Curry Under Armour sneakers and a jersey too. I figured it was the least I could do since I rode Golden State to the title last year, ya know?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Listen, you know more about basketball than anybody I know. You always have. Now you just need to think like a bettor. Then you can book your own trip to Nassau buddy.”

“I’m a single guy and I don’t really like the beach, so I don’t know if Nassau is for me.”

“Well go wherever single guys go then. Backpack around Europe or something.”

“I don’t even have a passport though.”

“Well, with all the money you’re gonna win you could get yourself a passport.”

There’s an awkward silence.

“You still there, Davey?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Alright, I’ll give it a shot.”

“Awesome, let me know how it goes, OK? Who do you like in the Finals anyway?”

“I think I’m leaning towards Cleveland. I think that Oklahoma City series proved just how vulnerable Golden State is. How about you?”

“I think the Warriors rout ’em. If anyone was gonna beat them it was gonna be the Thunder. Anyway, good luck man, let me know how it goes.”

Davey wasn’t totally new to sports gambling. Once when he was a Junior in high school he took 4-to-1 odds from one of his friends that the Miami Heat would come back from an 0–2 deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. He didn’t even really understand the concept of odds, but when his friend told him he’d only have to put up $50 with the potential to win $200, he had to do it. Another time, during Spring Break of his Senior year in College, he went to Las Vegas with a few buddies for the first weekend of March Madness and hit on a six-line parlay. He was responsible and decided to use his winnings to pay for his books that last semester.

However, Davey was new to the more fast-paced betting experience available on Best Bets, one of a handful of very legal online/mobile options that provide its users with an all-inclusive gambling experience. You could make wagers on individual games or season-long futures, dabble in in-game betting, play daily fantasy or enter paid long-term leagues with friends or random Best Bettors. Nearly any bet you could conceive of is right at your fingertips as long as you register for a Best Bets account and make a minimum $50 deposit.

Two weeks earlier it was Davey’s 27th birthday and his Godparents sent him ten scratch-off lottery tickets within his birthday card. He hated scratch-offs but didn’t have the heart to tell them, even though it had become an annual tradition that they would send him a bunch of losing tickets every year for his birthday. But after starting 0 for 9, Davey struck gold on one $300 winner on his final ticket. That $300 that he won on a $2 ticket would serve as his deposit with his Best Bets account.

Davey made a handful of successful bets throughout each of the first four games of the series, increasing his account total to $550 by the conclusion of a Golden State victory in Game 4 that left the defending champions just one win away from a second-consecutive NBA Title. With Warriors starting Power Forward Draymond Green suspended for Game 5 and a belief that Golden State was more vulnerable than most people realized, Davey decided to pull the trigger on his first major wager on Best Bets.

$250 — Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA Finals (+1100)

Cleveland would go on to win Game 5 at Oracle Arena against the short-handed Warriors, and then they’d take care of business in Game 6 at home to send the series to a do or die Game 7 back in the Bay Area. Davey did nearly as well as the Cavs did, cashing in winning digital tickets at a 75 percent clip during Game’s 5 and 6, mostly of the pre-game player prop variety. He hit on the over for LeBron James’ single-game point totals in Game’s 5 and 6, as well as over’s on LeBron’s rebounding total in Game 5 and assist total in Game 6. He correctly predicted that Tristan Thompson would finish Game 6 with a double-double, won on Will Richard Jefferson score over 6.5 points in Game 6 by a point and a half, and cashed in on over’s for Andre Iguodala’s Point, Rebound and Assist totals in Game 5, which seemed like gimme’s with Draymond Green suspended. By the start of Game 7, Davey’s account was up to $725 and he still had a pending wager of $250 to win a $2,750.

Even though he hadn’t had much luck playing Daily Fantasy line-ups throughout the Finals, Davey entered a $50 contest ahead of Game 7.

$50 Daily Fantasy Line-Up — Draymond Green (Captain), LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston

Total Balance: $625

Prior to tip-off, Davey made a handful of game-related bets too. He wanted to hedge his very profitable wager on Cleveland to win the series, so he put money on both Draymond Green and Stephen Curry to win the Finals MVP, which he’d get at better odds than betting Golden State straight up in the game. He did a quick Google search on recent Over/Under trends and his suspicions were proven true: In Golden State’s previous seven home Playoff games the Under had been 5–1–1, and in Game 7’s in the 2016 Playoffs the Under had come in as a winner in 3 of 4 games. A game played at a slower pace means that points are harder to come by, and that was Davey’s rationale for betting on LeBron James to score under 30 points in the game.

$25 — Draymond Green to win Finals MVP (+1200)

$50 — Stephen Curry to win Finals MVP (+250)

$75 — Under 206.5 (-105)

$100 — Under 30 points for LeBron James (+200)

Total Balance: $375

The game was on an under pace at halftime, with the Warriors leading 49–42. LeBron’s point total Under was looking like an early winner too. Even after missing Game 5 due to suspension, Draymond had made a pretty compelling case for himself as Finals MVP in the 1st Half. Not only did he uncharacteristically hit five 1st half three-pointers, but it looked like he was the only one of the Warriors Big Three who was completely unafraid of the big stage. Even though Cleveland was ice cold from the field and on potentially out of gas, Davey maintained his belief in the Cavs heading into the 2nd Half. With a bevy of potential 2nd half wagers available, Davey decided to only lock in one additional bet during the extended halftime break.

$25 — Cleveland to score first in 2nd Half (+155)

Davey got favorable odds on this opening quarter prop since Golden State had first possession coming out of halftime. To this day he still sometimes laughs about how this didn’t end up a bucket …

But this contested 21-foot jumper did …

Hey, a win’s a win.

Total Balance: $439

$25 — Cleveland to score first after Timeout at 7:38 in 3rd Quarter (-115)

Coming out of the time-out with the ball and down by five, Davey figured Ty Lue might dial up something nice to get a bucket to stop the bleeding. This was when we still confused Ty Lue with a good basketball coach. A broken play led to LeBron James finding Kevin Love underneath the basket for a lay-up as the shot clock expired. He’ll take it.

Total Balance: $486

$25 — Golden State to score first after Timeout at 4:33 in the 3rd Quarter (-150)

At least Davey remembered that Steve Kerr is the coach who dials up the nice stuff out of time outs.

Total Balance: $528

$100 — Golden State to win Game 7 with 4:33 left in the 3rd Quarter (Even)

After Golden State took a time out to stop a Cavs mid-quarter run, Davey used the break in the action to quickly attempt to further hedge his pre-Game 5 wager on Cleveland to win the series. The Warriors were trailing by six, and unless Cleveland started to really create some distance, it was hard to imagine being able to get Golden State at plus-odds at any other point in this game. The Warriors would eventually close the gap and take a one-point lead into the 4th Quarter. At that point their odds to win the game were back up to -145.

$75 — Under 52.5 points in the 4th Quarter (Even)

Davey thought this number looked a tad high, perhaps an overreaction to a 60-point 3rd quarter. These were the two best teams in the league, but they weren’t immune to nerves, and both would struggle to score with the defense ramped up to a level that neither team had faced yet this season.

$50 — Over 8.5 points in 4th Quarter for LeBron James (-110)

If the Cavaliers were going to end Cleveland’s championship drought, it was going to be on the broad shoulders of LeBron James to get them over their 52-year hump. This LeBron bet allowed Davey to hedge his previous Under bet for LeBron’s point total — the four-time MVP had just 16 points going into the final frame of the 2015–16 NBA season, so there was a scenario in which he could score over 8.5 points in the 4th quarter but still stay under 30 points for the game. In just a week, Davey had become quite the savvy gambler.

$50 — Kyrie Irving will make a three-pointer in the 4th Quarter (+180)
$50 — Cleveland to score first after Timeout at 2:50 in the 4th Quarter (-110)

Well Jesus, Davey had to sweat these two wins out, now didn’t he? For nearly four minutes the Warriors and Cavs were deadlocked at 89, a stretch that all but locked up wins on his two Under bets. But within those four minutes were 117 seconds of tense, white-knuckle, hair-pulling scoreless basketball that featured a legacy-defining/bet-saving block, a badly missed three-pointer by the league’s unanimous MVP, and the dagger of all daggers.

Davey is a normally calm, reserved guy. Never too high, never too low. For many years he had secretly wished that his name was Joe so people could call him “Joe Cool.” Wannabe Joe was not too cool during the final two minutes of this game. With the seconds ticking away and a number of tasty paydays getting closer and closer to coming through, Davey’s extremities began to tingle with nervous excitement, so much so that even if he wanted to punch in a few last bets in timeouts he probably couldn’t have done so. It wasn’t until the final buzzer sounded and LeBron James collapsed to the floor that he realized just how much money would soon be available to be withdrawn from his Best Bets account.

$100 — Golden State to win Game 7 with 4:33 left in the 3rd Quarter (Even)
-Loss

$25 — Draymond Green to win Finals MVP (+1200)
-Loss

$50 — Stephen Curry to win Finals MVP (+250)
-Loss

$50 Daily Fantasy Line-Up — Draymond Green (Captain), LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston
-Payout: $5,000

$250 — Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA Finals (+1100)
-Payout: $3,000

$75 — Under 206.5 (-105)
-Payout: $146

$100 — Under 30 points for LeBron James (+200)
-Payout: $300

$75 — Under 52.5 points in the 4th Quarter (Even)
-Payout: $150

$50 — Over 8.5 points in 4th Quarter for LeBron James (-110)
-Payout: $95

$50 — Kyrie Irving will make a three-pointer in the 4th Quarter (+180)
-Payout: $140

$50 — Cleveland to score first after Timeout at 2:50 in the 4th Quarter (-110)
-Payout: $95

Total Balance: $9,454

“What a game last night, huh?”

“Yeah. Couldn’t ask for a much more entertaining Game 7 than that. How did your son handle the loss?”

“He was inconsolable after the game. A total mess. Happy Father’s Day to me.”

“Oh, yeah, Happy Father’s Day by the way.”

“Thanks. I took a beating on Best Bets. I guess that’s how it goes though, right? The house always wins. How did you do?”

“I did alright. Hey, did you and your wife stay right at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau?”