The Oklahoma City Thunder are the only thing standing between Arizona sports bettor Wayne Shelton and $1,700,000. He placed a $100 parlay more than one year ago that is just 11 wins away from making him a millionaire (if he’s not already).
It all comes down to the NBA Playoffs!
Shelton, according to a great profile by Doug Greenberg of ESPN, is the owner of a real estate appraisal business in Phoenix and a single father of one. Rarely does he dabble in day-to-day sports betting. Futures are his thing.
Thus, when DraftKings offered him a high-limit, 50% boost on May 1, 2023, Shelton took the opportunity to go big. He placed a three-leg parlay on the NBA, MLB and NFL champions.
- Texas Rangers: 22-1
- Kansas City Chiefs: +600
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 70-1
A $100 bet would pay out $1.7 million.
The first leg hit in November when the Rangers won the World Series for the first time in franchise history. The second leg hit in February when the Chiefs won their second-straight Super Bowl.
And now it is all up to the Thunder, who are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference of the NBA. They reached the Conference Semifinals with a 4-0 sweep of the Pelicans and face the Mavericks. Should Oklahoma City win four games against Dallas, it would move to the Conference Finals, and then it would be the Finals.
Shelton is sitting on gold.
However, he has the opportunity to cash out now if he so chooses. The easiest way to guarantee a payout of any kind is by hedging his bet. He could also decide to sell his ticket.
DraftKings offered Shelton a pay out of $75,000 after the First Round series win. That wasn’t going to cut it so he started to shop around. As of right now, his highest bid is $228,613 through WagerWire. If the Oklahoma City Thunder advances, that number jumps to about $330K. Should Chet Holmgren and company advance again, it will hover around $720K.
Would you sell your parlay ticket now or hold out for the full $1.7 million and continue to ride the second-youngest team in the NBA?!