Alex Haberkern
Appearances
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
I haven't even looked, honestly. I'll tell myself I won't do it, and then I'll probably pull it up Sunday morning right before I go to work and be like, you know what, let's place a couple just to make it interesting for myself because I don't really care about who wins.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
Yes, always. I'm never going to pick one side. I always have to do the parlay. It makes it more interesting.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
I still have some come in. They're like, oh, do you remember like the day we were all sitting here and you were supposed to win? But like I had a guy that I was, his name is Mike. He was sitting at the bar with me on Sunday because I work Sunday nights. And he's like, I still can't believe that Cooper Cup, blah, blah, blah. He's like, I haven't placed a bet on him since that day.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
No. I mean, I'm upset. It's okay, Cooper. I forgive you, I guess. But, you know, a little compensation for losing my bet would have been nice.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
Let me see the exact payout. Hold on. It was $21,921. Almost $22,000 off a free $10 bonus bet? That's like life-changing money to me. I'm planning a wedding. We're looking to build a house. Like, that could do a lot for me. So I was like, it's a free bet. We'll risk it.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
100%. I was like, this is so stupid. And I tell my fiance my bets every week when I place them because he puts a couple things together, but it's very small. He does very realistic things. And I'm like, oh, you want to hear the stupidity I have going today? And that's basically how it is. But sometimes you get lucky. Yeah.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
When you work in the industry, it's kind of hard to want to go back and just like be there casually too. Like I do go to the casino occasionally, but I wouldn't say that gambling would be my favorite thing just because I see it every day.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
I think I do at max like $5 for a parlay, maybe $10 if I'm feeling like generous or I just won or something.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
It was before I was going to work, and I had like a free $10 bonus. It was like a last-minute thing that I was like, it expired if you didn't use it. So I was like, okay.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
For Pittsburgh. I think it was the end of the Steelers-Bengals game.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
Jamar Chase got his 80 yards. Beautiful grab by Jamar Chase. That's when I was like, okay, this might happen. And I go to work, we have all the TVs at work, so I was watching everything. And little by little, throughout my shift, things were happening.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
I had talked to my regulars about, like, the bet. So they were keeping me updated if I was, like, busy doing little things. So they'd be like, oh, so-and-so just scored. And I think little by little, I was like, okay, wait, maybe this has a chance.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
Oh, I was texting my fiance. I was like, oh, we are paying for our wedding. We're going on vacation. We're doing this. I have our honeymoon. Like, I was just creating plans in my head. I was like, we got this, like, covered. We're good.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
And then the rest just kind of kept going. Most of them were just scorers. Derrick Henry needed 80 yards. Saquon Barkley needed 80 yards. Jalen Hurts had to score. Kyron Williams had to score. And then, of course, Cooper Cupp needed 70 yards.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
So I think it was around halftime of the Rams game. And I had checked the stats because I wasn't really paying attention because I had gotten busy. And Cooper Cupp had 17 yards left.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
So I was like, OK, it's OK, possibly. And then I think the third quarter happened and I was on break and we have a TV in the break room. And he still he wasn't even getting the ball like there wasn't even targets. There was nothing like he basically was just dead to the Rams team.
The Journal.
How Parlays Became the Biggest Bet in Sports
Normally, yeah. And at that point, I stopped looking. I didn't want to know. I didn't, because I was like, I don't care how many yards he has at this point. It's going to lose. So I think by the third quarter, I just called it quits. And I was like, maybe I'll just get lucky, open my phone, and my balance will say $22,000.