Sports betting is a fraught enterprise. Although it can lead to some rushes of adrenaline and decent paydays, more often than not the house always wins. Since the legalization of sports betting started sweeping nationwide, millions of Americans are learning about the risks of sports betting on a daily basis. Except for First Things First host Kevin Wildes and his family, that is.
Incredibly, Wildes shared on X (formerly Twitter) after the conclusion of Monday Night Football, that he had won a 14-team NFL parlay from the weekend’s games, picking every outright winner correctly. Yes, even the New England Patriots, who everyone thought was a candidate for worst record in the league, picking up a shocking road win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The odds from FanDuel for a 14-0 sweep on Sunday and Monday night were placed at an incomprehensible +239527, which should have made him a very rich man beyond his television salary.
Unfortunately, Wildes only bet a dime. He won a mere $239.63.
This was called to attention by Wildes’ co-star Nick Wright, who said that Wildes used the parlay as an attempt to teach his children a lesson about gambling. Odds are that the ease of winning a 14-team parlay was not the intended lesson that he had in mind.
Even if Wildes had bet $10, he would have won over $23,000. Although no one should ever be advised to throw away $100 on such an absurd parlay, that would have scored almost a quarter-million dollars.
Next time Kevin Wildes wants to teach his family a lesson about the pitfalls of gambling, he should just play this clip from Vegas Vacation instead. But if he wants to share his Week 2 picks ahead of time, he’d probably fare better than Colin Cowherd.
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