Ugly Ending to DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship
A national sports betting handicapping contest with a $2.5 million prize pool ended in controversy Sunday in New Jersey, after the Day 3 leader was prevented from making his final wager before the NFC divisional-round game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints kicked off.
A contestant with the username rleejr86 ended up winning the first DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship instead, grabbing the $1 million first prize with a final bet of $47,500 on the Eagles +8.5.
The Saints won 20-14, but the Eagles covered the spread, boosting rleerjr86’s bankroll to a contest-winning $101,474.
More than 200 bettors from different parts of the country entered the $10,000 buy-in contest and combined to wager more than $5 million during the three-day event that was headquartered in Jersey City.
However, it was the bets that couldn’t be placed by the leader before the final game in the contest kicked off that were the source of dispute.
Professional sports bettor Rufus Peabody, competing under the username Opti5624, was leading the contest heading into the Eagles-Saints game, with a nearly $82,000 bankroll that he compiled after winning an all-in wager on the New England Patriots -3.5 against the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday’s AFC divisional-round game. The Patriots won …
