Illinois Bettor Wins Over $1 Million On PGA Tour Event

An Illinois bettor claimed the largest payout in BetRivers' sports betting history, winning over $1 million wagering on the PGA Tour.
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Chris Altruda was a sportswriter with ESPN, The Associated Press, and STATS for more than two decades before joining Better Collective in 2019. When not crunching iGaming and casino revenue figures, he is usually listening to Iron Maiden or exploring Chicago neighborhoods. His Twitter handle is @AlTruda73 and can be reached via email at [email protected]

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As Collin Morikawa was celebrating his second career PGA Tour victory Sunday at the Workday Charity Open and the $1,116,000 paycheck that came with it, a bettor from the Chicago suburbs nearly matched that windfall over the weekend via sports betting through BetRivers in Illinois, riding the 23-year-old throughout the tournament along with a few other assorted wagers.

The bettor, who has the Twitter handle of @CashoutKingJ, posted screenshots of tickets for the weekend that resulted in a total of $1.06 million in winnings for five bets on the PGA Tour event. The run began Thursday with $200,000 from a $4,000 wager on Morikawa at +5000 to be the leader at the end of the first round and concluded with Morikawa’s nerve-wracking playoff win in which he overcame a three-shot deficit to Justin Thomas over the final three holes and then defeated him on the third playoff hole.

“With how everything was lined up, my only concern was winning the top-five bet,” the winner told US Bets about the rollercoaster Sunday. “I didn’t care about the rest. I had won the six-shooter, won the day one at +5000, give me the top five, just play good enough. Will I be upset [if Morikawa didn’t finish in first place]? Sure, but he made me a good amount of money.

“The whole demeanor was, ‘We’re not going to win, he’s not going to outshoot Justin Thomas.’ I love JT and he’s one of the best golfers in the world. I did not expect to come close to winning.”

“CashoutKing” — as the bettor requested to be called — cleared $1.1 million in winnings when adding picks from the UFC 251 fight card and Spanish soccer matches in La Liga. The bettor said a good portion of the winnings “will be something secured for the future.”

“This is the biggest payout ever at the newly launched BetRivers.com in Illinois and in fact at all BetRivers.com sportsbooks, which are also live in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Colorado,” said Richard Schwartz of Rush Street Interactive, which operates BetRivers, in a statement. “Our BetRivers.com online sportsbooks have grown extremely fast by offering users a high quality user experience and chances to win big. Well, winning big is exactly what just happened this weekend at BetRivers.com for this bettor who won over a million dollars!”

Riding a big hunch with Morikawa

“CashoutKing,” who admitted to sports gambling “my whole life,” did not put all that much research into making those winning picks for the Workday Charity Open. The bettor recalled “losing [a lot] on an under on soccer” before studying the odds for the PGA Tour event.

“I was looking at the line and remember Collin limping out two weeks ago, and he missed the cut at The Travelers. The guy is a stud, a monster. I looked at the course, I was upset, losing another bet. [I wanted] a finesse-type guy, I don’t like betting at +800 or +700, and Collin stuck out.”

The bets placed

The bettor placed four wagers on Morikawa on Tuesday before the event started, opening with a boosted-odds bet of $5,715 at +3500 to win the tournament. The second wager was picking Morikawa to be the first-round leader, which the 23-year-old delivered with a 7-under 65 for sole possession of first. The third wager placed Tuesday afternoon was $28,000 on Morikawa to finish in the top five at +750.

The bettor added a $10,000 bet on Morikawa to win at +2800 on Tuesday evening and completed the set of picks Thursday night with a $35,000 bet for an “Early Six Shooter” on Morikawa at +250 for the second-year pro to have the best second-round score among six selected golfers. That winning wager, after Morikawa carded a 66, resulted in a payday of $122,500.

The six-shooter wagers are something “CashoutKing” prefers, noting that only BetRivers offers them in Illinois. “I don’t bet futures, I don’t like to wait to see if I win,” the bettor said. “Round one six-shooter, round two six-shooter, it gives it a basketball feel as opposed to a long [time] for golf. The first time I bet on it was when Rivers came to Illinois.”

A low-key celebration

“CashoutKing” prefers not watching the actual bets play out and regularly interacts with a Twitter following of more than 12,000. The winning bettor, who stressed not being a tout, “enjoys the notoriety when I win,” adding, “people DM me and say ‘thank you so much’ that it leaves me with a good feeling.”

There was also appreciation for BetRivers for taking the bets, noting, “they have some [guts] others don’t.” As for celebrating, “CashoutKing” said it would be a low-key affair:

“I’m going to eat dinner with my parents and enjoy the night and whatever I guess.”

Photo by Adam Cairns / USA Today Sports

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