ItsVegasDave/Instagram
Just a few months after Dave Oancea won a huge $2.5 million betting on the World Series, his bets on the Super Bowl would also come good.
The controversial gambler had made a series of 12 bets at various different bookmakers and at various different prices, but in total, his overall wager amounted to $305,000, and he stood to win just over $2.3 million.
For that to happen, he would need the Denver Broncos to be victorious, yet their opponents, the Carolina Panthers, were the bookies favourite to lift the trophy.
Vegas Dave, as he likes to be known, showed proof of his bets on the Broncos via images on his Instagram page, the smallest of which were just $2,000 and $3,500, but the biggest single bet was for $145,000.
The first bet he placed had odds of 14/1, which he took for $30,000 so that made up a serious chunk of the final payout, and he started making the bets back in November and December of 2015.
Average odds for the whole bet when all was said and done were 13/2, with an exact payout value of $2,306,318.20.
How the Bet was Won
This was Super Bowl 50, held on February 7, 2016, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The broncos got off to a fantastic start and, in all probability, won the game in the first quarter, as they were leading 10-0 at the end of it. This was thanks to an early 34-yard field goal by Brandon McManus which got them off the mark, and no doubt did some damage to the Panthers’ morale as it was the first time they had faced a deficit in the entire postseason.
A few minutes later they scored their first touchdown, although it wasn’t exactly pretty, with the ball being fumbled over the line after a drop.
The Panthers came back in the 2nd quarter to make the score 10-7 after a 73-yard scoring drive capped by Jonathan Stewart’s 1-yard touchdown run, but McManus scored a field goal adding another 3 points to Denver’s tally.
The 3rd quarter was less exciting as far as scoring is concerned, but another field goal from McManus made the score 16-7, giving the Carolina Panthers a very tough job to do in the 4th.
They wouldn’t manage it.
The Panthers drew first blood in the 4th with a field goal, closing the Bronco’s lead to 6 points, but with 3 minutes left on the clock, Anderson battled through the defence to score a 2 yard touchdown run, with a 2 point conversion on top.
This created an impossible situation for the Panthers, who couldn’t hope to close the 14 point gap in the scoreline in the time remaining, and the Denver Broncos won their first Super Bowl since 1998.