Meet Matt Daniele.
He’s a diehard Niners, Knicks and Mets fan from New Jersey that just cashed a 584-to-1 parlay. This was far from your average parlay though — this one required not only extra luck and good fortune, but impeccable timing and tons of patience.
“Matty D” risked 12 dollars to win $7,020 on a three-pick parlay back on October 29, 2019. He needed all of the following three bets to win to cash his ticket: the Washington Nationals to win the World Series (+550), the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl (+1400) and Brandon Ingram to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player (+500).
Around five hours after the parlay was placed, Washington beat Houston 7-2 in Game 6 of the World Series behind another stellar pitching performance from Stephen Strasburg. The following night, the Nats erased a 2-0 Game 7 deficit with an onslaught of late runs to win 6-2 and clinch the world championship.
1-for-1.
For my money, the second leg of the parlay was the most intriguing. The Chiefs stormed out to a 4-and-0 record in September behind electric quarterback play from reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes. But unlike the first month of the season, October was filled with roadblocks. Kansas City lost dropped their first two games in October at home to Indianapolis and Houston, then Mahomes exited the following game at Denver with a knee injury.[[ad:athena]]
“That’s exactly why I got it in at +1400,” Daniele explained to NBC Sports. “Mahomes was hurt and the Chiefs had just lost three of the last four games. They were still in first place, but only by a game or so. Getting 14-to-1 was just perfect timing.”
Mahomes eventually returned to the fold and led the Chiefs on an incredible ride that culminated with a 31-20 win in Super Bowl LIV over Daniele’s beloved San Francisco 49ers.
“Talk about torn!” Daniele joked. “To be honest, I was pulling for the Chiefs. I had a lot riding on them to win it all with tremendous odds on other bets.”
2-for-2.
The third parlay leg was the biggest emotional rollercoaster for Daniele. He knew Ingram was one of the top contenders for Most Improved Player, but the COVID-19 pandemic put everything in limbo.
“It was an incredible sweat,” Daniele recalled. “Before the virus shut everything down, Ingram was a -250 favorite to win the award. Once they opened the NBA bubble, [Heat forward] Bam Adebayo just went off. Before you knew it, the new odds were posted and Adebayo was -170. And I’m thinking what the… how the hell did this happen?!”
Fast-forward to mid-August and Daniele was still waiting for a result. The NBA stated that awards would be announced during the postseason, but never disclosed exact dates or times. Then, the players began to boycott and there were rumors of the league shutting down the postseason.
Sheesh.
Cooler heads eventually prevailed and this past Monday, Ingram was officially announced as the league’s Most Improved Player.
3-for-3. Pay that man his money. Seven thousand smacks.
“I went and broke out the 18-year-old Glenfiddich,” Daniele said when asked how he celebrated. “I had a buddy over from North Carolina and my brother-in-law came by. So we cracked open a bottle of Oban 14 too and got to work.”
Bottoms up, Matt. Congrats.
