The story behind the wildest college football bet of the season began on a Sunday night in April in Freehold, New Jersey, where two friends gambled – a drunk local restaurateur and another. ex-Goldman Sachs trader – chatting after work at a Russian bathhouse.
“Pete, listen, I have a bet for you,” said Robert Doran, who was at the spa, trying to sweat over glasses of tequila he had photographed the night before at a wedding.
Pete Kizenko, the 56-year-old owner of the banyan tree, is fascinating. He likes to gamble and sweat, always has. In 2012, he left the Moscow-based trading deal with Goldman Sachs to bring the Russian banyan tree tradition to New Jersey and open Bear and Aries. It has become a popular spot to watch games and talk gambling.
Doran explained to Kizenko that the former Michigan athletes were at the wedding he attended the night before and were actually cheering on a team from Mountain West as bed-timers for the football season. the next college rock.
“I think we should bet Wyoming“, said Doran, suggesting that they should take the Aggies to win more than seven games in the regular season.
Kizenko peruses Wyoming’s schedule, recording a big game in Week 2 and checking the odds on his phone, before offering a clear explanation.
“F — it! Let’s beat the national championship,” he exclaimed. “They are 1,000-1.”
Doran nodded, and Kizenko bet his sportsbook app: $1,000 on Wyoming to win the national championship at 1,000-1 odds with Caesars Sportsbook. It could be one of the first $1,000 bets ever placed on under 1,000-1. If the Aggies shocks the world, the bet will pay out a net $1 million. Most likely, it would be the equivalent of a $1,000 donation to Caesars.
Wyoming is 38.5 points behind at Alabama in Week 2.
Every dog has its day
A $1,000 bet on 1,000-1 long shot is rare where a team weaker than 38 points causes a complete upset or a team from a powerless conference makes it to the College Rugby Round. At the highest level of college football, there has been only one such annoyance in the past 44 years: Stanford (+40.5) over USC in 2007. Last year, Cincinnati be the only team that isn’t from a powerful or named convention Notre Dame to be selected for the knockout round. Likewise, Kizenko’s bet on Wyoming may be the first of its kind.
Some longtime bookies have tried to recall betting four numbers on a team with odds of 1,000-1 or so. Adam Pullen, who has been betting in Las Vegas for 30 years, says that 1,000-1 long shot bets are typically in the $5-$20 range or “$100 at most”, with nothing close to the $. 1,000 Kizenko dropped out in Wyoming. At Caesars, the next biggest national championship bet on the team with odds of 1,000-1 or so is $100 on UMass is 10,000-1 and $100 per UConn at 10,000-1.
“It definitely stands out when you see a bet like this, a four-figure bet for this long odds,” said Pullen, assistant trading manager at Caesars Sportsbook. Caesars Sportsbook’s assistant director of trading, said. “That’s definitely not the norm.”
The charismatic Kizenko, a veteran bettor, has gambling stories he can tell for days. He is no stranger to backing the bottom team or placing big bets. He said he usually bets “several thousand dollars” on an NFL game but admitted that $1,000 in Wyoming is a bit out of the norm for him in a futures bet.
One of his best scores was a 200-1 YE Yang long-range shot to win the 2009 PGA Championship. One of his biggest losses was overseas in 2003, when he bet Bet with a UK bookie that the London temperatures won’t be reached. 100 degrees for the first time.
“I got off the plane in London. It felt more like Bangkok than monstrous London,” Kizenko recalls. “I’m sitting in the living room, and the BBC says it’s 95 outside. It’s like 9am. Oh no, I’m in trouble.”
Kizenko placed his Wyoming bet on April 17, but he hasn’t finished yet. The day after placing his first bet on the Aggies, he noticed that Caesars hadn’t changed the odds, so he placed another $1,000 on Wyoming. A third $1,000 bet on Wyoming came the next day from an unidentified bettor at Caesars Sportsbook in Illinois. Kizenko says it’s not him.
As of mid-July, the Aggies have attracted more national championship bets of $1,000 or more at Caesars than any other team, except Alabama and Ohio Statetwo consensus favorites.
When news spread on Twitter of three $1,000 bets on Wyoming in three days, there were questions like “Are they mixing Utah and Wyoming?” and comments like, “Probably the worst bet I’ve ever seen.”
Meanwhile, the Pullen and Caesars trading team asked, “What’s the angle? What are we missing? Because it’s so unusual.”
“It’s funny, because you used to think that these smart people are doing crazy research on Wyoming and it’s some sort of hidden Messianic gold pick,” said Doran, 33, the owner of the breakfast and brunch spot almost said. . “And really, it just came from me ripping a glass of tequila with some players at a wedding.”
You’re telling me there’s a chance
Pullen describes Caesars Sportsbook’s level of anxiety about Wyoming winning the national championship as “none”.
“We’re not worried,” he said.
But there are reasons to believe the Aggies will be good this season. They return 12 starters, including senior quarterback Logan Bonner, from last season’s 11-3 team that defeated Oregon State in the LA Bowl. In addition, they received a series of impact transfers, including one recipient from Alabama and multiple Michigan players.
Still, even with an upgraded roster, winning the national championship seems like a noble task, with Week 2’s game at Alabama No. 1 likely to be the end of all hopes. hope of the Aggies, if they get UConn on Saturday.
“If they hadn’t played Alabama, I wouldn’t have bet,” Kizenko said in a recent phone interview, noting that the Crimson Tide played in Texas in Week 3. “In Mountain West, even if they’re unbeaten. , they will not be considered, but now they will have a win over Alabama, so they will be considered.
“I told my friend that 1,000-1 was the biggest misjudgment by a team since Werewolves went up against the Soviet army in ‘Red Dawn’,” he added with a laugh.
Kizenko is realistic about the Aggies’ chances. According to ESPN Stats & Info, no national champion has dropped even more than 10 points in a single game during the regular season. Wyoming will most likely have a score of 40-1 to beat Alabama straight.
Kizenko and Doran believe the Aggies’ chances are better than the odds suggest. They bought tickets for the game in Alabama and will be sitting “first row behind the Aggies bench.”
Since 1978, bets under 38 points or more are calculated in a straight line 1-368.
“I wouldn’t miss being a part of history,” Kizenko said.
Editor’s Note: Caesars Sportsbook is an ESPN betting partner.
