Blues bettor turns $400 into $100K after refusing to hedge
Scott Berry is a man of his convictions.
The St. Louis Blues fan found himself in the right place at the right time when he decided to make a sports bet.
The Action Network reports the Berry was on a business trip in Las Vegas on Jan. 2 when the Blues sat squarely in the last place. They weren’t in last place in the Central Division or the Western Conference. They had the worst record out of all 31 NHL teams.
Berry jumps on 250-to-1 odds
When Berry walked into the Paris Las Vegas sportsbook, he saw futures odds for his team sitting at 250-to-1. Even for a team as bad as the Blues, he liked the price. When he saw the Bellagio offering 150-to-1, he plunked his gambling budget for the trip down — all $400 of it — on his Blues.
Five days later, the Blues would make one of the most impactful lineup changes in hockey history, inserting rookie Jordan Binnington as their starting goaltender.
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Binnington would go on to tally a 24-5-1 in goal to help push the Blues into playoff position. Sixteen playoff wins in goal later, and Binnington and the Blues are Stanley Cup champions.
Bet turns into $100K payday on Wednesday
And Berry — who refused to hedge — turned his $400 wager into $100,000. Not bad for what we’ll classify here as a what-the-hell bet while in Vegas.
Berry turned down chances to hedge
Berry had chances to cash in on his bet prior to the Blues’ 4-1 win Wednesday over the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
When St. Louis took a 3-2 series lead, other bettors offered to buy him out for $75,000, according to the report. That means he could have walked away with $75,000 risk free, leaving the downside of the bet completely in the hands of his buyers.
He declined. He also declined to place any sort of hedge to protect a portion of his winnings. When Boston won Game 6, Berry was left with a one-game sweat for $100,000.
Blues win, he gets paid. Blues lose, he gets nothing.
“You know it’s so funny, it’s like I never in a million years thought I would be watching a game where I either am a $100,000 victor or I’m walking away with my tail between my legs,” Berry told the Action Network Wednesday morning. “But, I’ve got all faith in these guys, I still think they’re gonna do it, they’re a better road team so tonight’s gonna be an emotional roller coaster.”
All-time sweat
Fortunately for Berry, the Blues won. And Wednesday wasn’t even much of a roller coaster for the Blues die-hard. St. Louis opened a 2-0 first period lead and never let Boston back in the game that secured the first Stanley Cup in the franchise’s 52-year existence.
HE DID IT! Scott Berry, who put $400 on the #STLBlues to win the Stanley Cup back in January, can now cash his 250-1 ticket for $100,000!
He did not hedge.
He did not waiver.
And now, he's $100k richer,
Congrats! pic.twitter.com/HTN9l3oyRh— Rob Edwards (@RobertDEdwards) June 13, 2019
For sports fans, some wins are sweeter than others. They don’t get much sweeter than this.
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