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How a Bettor Won Over $400,000 With a $25 College Basketball Parlay on DraftKings Sportsbook

Zach Thompson breaks down how a sports bettor turned only $25 into a huge profit with a College Basketball Parlay on DraftKings Sportsbook.

By Zach Thompson
UCLA v. St. Francis basketball game.

Tip-off of college basketball season means there are even more chances to win on a daily basis on DraftKings Sportsbook. Each day there are multiple picks and props to choose from in addition to long-term futures plays on teams to win conferences or advance in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

You can also stack multiple picks into a parlay bet, which boosts the payout if each of the legs is correct. One bettor used that strategy on Monday, November 6, in order to build a massive 15-leg parlay with odds adding up to +1630268. With such high odds, the $25 bet returned a massive payout of $407,674!

Here are the selections that were part of the parlay, and you can scroll down for more details as to how it all played out:

  • Villanova -21.0
  • Duke -23.0
  • BYU -28.0
  • LSU -24.0
  • Miami FL -23.0
  • Kentucky -18.5
  • Pittsburgh -22.5
  • Kansas -27.0
  • UConn -24.0
  • UCLA -28.5
  • Purdue -19.5
  • Tennessee -26.5
  • Texas A&M -21.5
  • Texas -30.0
  • Houston -27.0

Check out Stepped Up Same Game Parlays on DraftKings Sportsbook for big profit boosts! The more legs in the parlay, the bigger the boost! See the Stepped Up Same Game Parlays page for more details!

Before we dive in, just a quick definition of exactly what we’re talking about. A parlay bet is a bet that requires multiple outcomes to occur. A parlay bet cashes when all outcomes within the parlay are selected correctly. You can learn more about how they work in the DraftKings Sportsbook How To Bet Guide!

This parlay was built on 15 favorites to cover the spread on the opening night of the season. Many big-time college hoops programs schedule weaker opponents to get off to a big win in their opener, but each of these picks was against the spread, so the teams would all need to win big in many cases.

The top three teams in the country were all in the parlay. No. 3 Purdue got the action underway at 6:30 p.m. ET as they hosted Samford. Zach Edey played just 20 minutes but had 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Boilermakers to a comfortable, 98-45 victory which covered the spread of 19.5 points with a 53-point margin of victory. No. 2 Duke hosted Dartmouth in their opener, and they cruised to a 92-54 win that had a 38-point margin of victory that easily covered the 23-point spread. The No. team in the country didn’t start until 9:00 p.m. ET, but Kansas had no trouble with visiting North Carolina Central, winning 99-56 with a 43-point margin of victory covering the 27-point spread. The Jayhawks' win wasn’t a close one, but they were fired up to get their season underway, led by Hunter Dickenson, as you can see in this highlight:

Sometimes it’s just as critical which games are left out of a parlay. This parlay did not include No. 4 Michigan State and No. 5 Marquette, and both teams failed to cover. Not only did Michigan State not cover, the Spartans were upset outright by James Madison in overtime. Marquette avoided that fate and coasted to the win over NIU but won by 22 and the spread was 25.5 points.

This parlay avoided those two games but did include the three other top 10 teams in action. No. 6 UConn gave 24 points to Northern Arizona but won by 43 points. No. 7 Houston gave 27 points to UL Monroe but won by 53, and No. 9 Tennessee gave 26.5 points to Tennessee Tech but won by 38.

The other five teams in the top 25 who were included in this 15-leg parlay were No. 13 Miami FL, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 18 Texas and No. 22 Villanova. The Hurricanes, Aggies and Kentucky Wildcats all won by more than 10 points more than the spread, but Texas and Villanova cut things much closer. Villanova only led American by 10 at halftime and didn’t take a lead bigger than the 21-point spread until the 14-minute mark of the second half. They ultimately won by 27 points, which was still enough to cover.

The Longhorns were one of the closest calls this parlay had all day. Texas was laying 30 points in their opener against Incarnate Word, which is the largest Catholic university in Texas and located in San Antonio. Texas was up big early, leading 48-17 at halftime, but the Cardinals rallied in the second half and scored 39 points. They closed to within 33 points with three minutes left in the game and finished the game 32 points behind, meaning the Longhorns covered by just two points in their first win of the season, highlighted below:

There were four non-ranked teams that were part of this massive 15-leg parlay. LSU was giving 24 points but beat Mississippi Valley State by 46, Pittsburgh was giving 22.5 points to North Carolina A&T, who they beat by 48, and BYU was giving 28 points to Houston Christian, who they beat by 47.

The final college basketball game of the day and the final game of this parlay didn’t tip off until 11:30 p.m. ET. UCLA opened their season by taking on St. Francis from Pennsylvania. They were giving 28.5 points, so they needed to win by a wide margin, just like the other 14 teams in this parlay. The game was tied with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half, and the Bruins only led by 10 at halftime. In the second half, though, UCLA pulled away with a 17-7 run coming out of the break.

With under three minutes left, UCLA’s lead was just 21, but the Red Flash ran out of gas and the Bruins scored the final 10 points of the game to win by 31.

By that final narrow margin, this parlay went green across the board. With all 15 favorites covering, this bettor claimed over $400,000 on just a $25 bet.

You can build your own parlay using picks from college basketball, the NBA, the NHL, the NFL or even picking across sports on DraftKings Sportsbook. You can even combine multiple picks from within the same game into a Same Game Parlay. However you choose to get involved, there are many ways to add extra interest to whatever games have your attention. Get started on building your betting slip today!

Same Game Parlay (SGP) is available on DraftKings Sportsbook for multiple sports! To place a SGP:

1. Find a game that has the SGP icon in the left corner.

2. Tap or click the SGP icon.

3. Build your Same Game Parlay. Combine multiple bets from one game. The more bets you combine, the more you can win.

4. Place your parlay. Add your Same Game Parlay to your bet slip, enter your wager amount, and submit your bet.

Read more about SGP at the DraftKings Sportsbook SGP page!

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Z.Thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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