Rovell: Meet the Mets Bettor Who Could Win $200K on His World Series Wager
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: New York Mets center fielder Michael Conforto (30) at Citi Field.
- The New York Mets have been the best story in baseball since the All-Star break after a wild run that put them back in the National League Wild Card race.
- And yet, only one fan actually put significant money on the Mets to win the World Series at the FanDuel Sportsbook before the streak truly took off.
It’s August 1. A 22-year-old man who works at a boutique investment bank has left work and has boarded one subway train and two buses with a Starbucks bag filled with $2,000 in cash to get to his destination: The FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands.
Luke, whose name we are withholding at his request, isn’t a big sports bettor. The most he won was $80 in his high school fantasy league.
“It wasn’t hard,” he said. “Everyone else was pretty much dumb.”
He knew one do the fastest ways to get the bet down on the New York Mets to win the World Series would be to cross the New York-New Jersey border and place the bet.
“My stocks were up,” Luke said. “I thought I saw Zack Wheeler on the subway.”
The Mets had just acquired Marcus Stroman and won six in a row. But they were still three games under .500 (52-55) due to a horrific run headed into the All-Star break, in which they lost 18 of 25 games.
It’s why a six-game winning streak didn’t result in any of the sportsbooks budging.
And it’s why Luke had no trouble putting down $2,000 on the Mets at 100-1 to win the World Series on the afternoon of August 1.
What happened next?
The Mets won nine of their next 10 and now find themselves at 26-1 odds to win it all a mere 13 days after Luke plunked down his sizable bet at 100-1.
The Mets have since slowed down a bit, having lost two in a row and find themselves two games back in the wild card. But it’s been quite the ride for Luke, who still counts as the biggest bet FanDuel has taken on the Mets. And that’s also counting the fact that FanDuel has only taken more bets on the Yankees than the Mets.
“I work late, but I’ve been watching the games on my phone,” Luke said. “A lot of my friends text me before and after every game.”
His boss knows, though he has denied Luke’s request to leave early to watch a game live. So does his dad.
“My mom doesn’t know,” he said. “She would murder me.”
Hopefully leaving out your last name, Luke, will save her the trouble.
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