ItsVegasDave/Instagram
In 2015, outspoken professional bettor Dave Oancea decided that the Kansas City Royals were going to win the World Series.
He started making bets as early as April, more than 6 months before the final game would take place, and with the odds at a huge 30/1, then continued to back them all the way down to 6/1, totalling $140,000 worth of bets overall.
Vegas Dave, as he is better known, placed 26 bets in total, so it’s not possible to know what the odds were at each stage of the process, but we know his total bet amount, and we know that he won $2,457,200, so it’s possible to work out his average odds, which were 33/2.
Oancea has said since that he never understood why the odds were so long on the Royals, since they almost won the World Series the year before and won their first 7 games in the new season, so he saw that as a value bet, and it turned out to be correct.
He had the opportunity to cash out for a positive return of $750k, and the opportunity to hedge later in the season by betting on the New York Mets, for a positive return of $1.25 million, but he let it ride.
How the Bet Was Won
There were 5 games in the final, and the Mets took an early lead in Game 1 with a run in the first inning, but the Royals tied the game in the fifth inning. The Mets regained the lead in the eighth inning, but the Royals tied the game again in the ninth inning with a dramatic solo home run by Alex Gordon.
The game went into extra innings, with the Royals finally sealing the victory with a sacrifice fly in the 14th inning. With this win, the Royals took a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 remained scoreless until the fifth inning when the Royals broke through with five runs, including a three-run homer by catcher Salvador Perez. The Mets scored their only run in the sixth inning, but the Royals added two more runs in the eighth inning to secure the win.
The Mets took a crucial early lead in Game 3, scoring four runs in the first inning. Despite the Royals’ attempts to close the gap, the Mets continued to extend their lead throughout the game.
Daniel Murphy’s record-breaking home run and Noah Syndergaard’s strong pitching performance were key factors, and the Mets narrowed the Royals’ series lead to 2-1.
The roles reversed in Game 4 where the Royals took an early lead, which the Mets quickly countered to tie the score. The Royals regained the lead in the sixth inning with a home run by Alex Gordon then added another run in the eighth inning.
The Mets rallied with a home run by Daniel Murphy in the eighth inning, but the Royals’ bullpen held firm to secure the 5-3 win, putting them ahead 3-1 in the series.
The Mets took an early lead in Game 5, thanks to a run scored in the first inning. However, the Royals tied the game in the ninth inning, forcing extra innings.
In the top of the 12th inning, the Royals exploded for five runs, including a three-run double by Christian Colon. The Mets attempted a comeback in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs, but it wasn’t enough. The final score of Game 5 was 7-2 in favour of the Royals.
With this victory, the Kansas City Royals secured their first World Series championship since 1985.