Canadian Gambler Wins $725K on NFL Bet
An Ontarian sports bettor, Gino DiFelice purchased a $5 Pro-Line ticket from the OLG to get into the action of NFL betting.
The incredulous man watched as the games played out during the week led him to a 14-14 status prior to the Seahawks-Packers game. But he was clearly over the moon when the replacement referee's handling of the final game resulted in a Seahawks victory and a perfect 15-15 parlay bet win for the player.
DiFelice essentially had to correctly guess every single game of NFL Week 3 in order to win $725,274 - which he did in a big way.
The player recalled how he was so nervous watching the game with his wife and nephew that he could only watch the last 1:48 minutes. He knew that he had all 14 picks right on the ticket after the games on Sunday, and he was simply too emotionally strung to watch the fifteenth crucial game.
"I couldn't watch the rest of the game," he said. "I had the ticket sealed in an envelope and nobody knew until after the game until I told them."
NFL Game Under Review
But the Seahawks victory was not clear cut, with the refs making a mess of a last second hail mary that should have been ruled as an interception, leading to a Packers victory.
However, the game went under review and the winner was only put out of his misery after the refs officially called the hail mary a touchdown.
"When the game was under review, I couldn't believe what was happening," recalls the player. "When the call was made [on the Seahawks victory], I went nuts. I ripped open the envelope to show them. They couldn't believe it."
If the refs had ruled otherwise and the Packers had won, DiFelice would have had to share his prize with five other winners.
It is estimated that literally hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gambling bets were shifted with the final, crucial decision, but DiFelice was not among the losers in NFL Week 3.
His winnings are the third highest ever awarded in the Pro-Line Game.
NFL Bet Winner Consulted with Kids
Funnily, the Canadian gambler NFL bet which won the $725K was made with the help of his two kids, Mia, 12 and Marco, 10. Whenever he wagers on NFL games, he submits three tickets - one with his own picks, one with his son's picks and one with his daughter's.
"The winner was the ticket my daughter consulted me on," he told reporters. "The funniest part is, the ticket I made all of the picks myself, I only got four right."
