Wayne Shelton's $100 Parlay Bet Could Win Him $1.7 Million if the Thunder Win the NBA Finals

A sports bettor named Wayne Shelton placed a wild parlay wager in May 2023 that is on the verge of paying out if the Oklahoma City Thunder win the NBA Finals in June. The parlay ticket was purchased via DraftKings and cost Shelton just $100. Now he stands to win $1.7 million, representing a potential return of 1,690,900% if the bet pans out.

For the ticket to pay out the $1.7 million, the Texas Rangers had to win the MLB World Series (check), the Kansas City Chiefs had to win the NFL Super Bowl (also check). The final piece is an NBA title for the Thunder.

Shelton investigated how much DraftKings would pay him to cash out his $1.7 million parlay ticket after the Thunder won their first series against the New Orleans Pelicans, but at about $75,000, Shelton thought that was a bad deal.

Instead, he sought out the novel solution of offering other sports bettors a chance to get in on the bet on the secondary market. Using a service called WagerWire, Shelton opened his ticket up to potential offers from outside investors.

Shelton is still retaining full ownership of his ticket until he finds a suitable offer, but his experience seeking investors on WagerWire offers an early look at the markets will continue to crop up following the legalization of sports betting.

In the meantime, Shelton will be closely watching the Thunder. They currently have a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series against the Dallas Mavericks, leaving Shelton a mere 11 victories from gambling immortality, regardless of what he ends up doing with his ticket.