Bettor Misses $1 Million Payday After Awful Call Robs Pistons Of A Win Over The Knicks

Getty Image

The Pistons were understandably outraged by a terrible foul call that cost them a win against the Knicks on Monday night, and one bettor who would’ve walked away with over $1 million was also less than thrilled with how things panned out.

The Detroit Pistons were viewed as heavy underdogs against the New York Knicks heading into their showdown at Madison Square Garden, as the away team was listed at +900 in a game where the home squad was favored by 14.5 points.

It looked like Detroit was going to walk away with the upset until things took a pretty wild turn in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.

The Pistons were up 111-110 when Ausar Thompson secured what had the potential to be a game-sealing steal, but he turned the ball over after colliding with Donte DiVincenzo. While it seemed like Thompson was fouled on the play, no whistle was blown, and Josh Hart was sent to the line after hitting the lay-up that ended up being the game-winning basket.

There’s zero doubt Pistons coach Monty Williams has a fine coming his way after ripping into the refs at the postgame press conference before storming off, and while it didn’t change the outcome, the officials admitted they screwed up after getting the chance to review the play in question.

That admission certainly won’t do much to appease professional sports bettor Marco Piemonte, who threw down $90,000 on the Pistons moneyline in addition to the $110,000 he placed on Detroit to cover the spread.

He technically came out ahead because the second bet hit, but he would’ve netted an additional $810,000 if he (and the Pistons) hadn’t been robbed by the refs.

When you consider he was able to bet $90K on the moneyline in the first place, it’s safe to assume he’s going to be just fine, but that’s still a pretty brutal loss.