Bettor turns $5 into nearly $500K after cashing parlay on Christmas

A bettor dressed in a Santa Claus costume had three gifts delivered to him on Christmas that closed out a $5 parlay that paid nearly $500,000.

The DraftKings bettor, who identified himself in a social media video as Travis Dufner, hit a 14-leg NFL touchdown scorer parlay that paid $489,383.01, a 97,876 to 1 long shot.

The gambler hit the first 11 legs of the parlay Saturday and Sunday, and needed Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco, Eagles running back D’Andre Swift and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey to score touchdowns on Christmas Day to cash the ticket.

Kansas City scored only two TDs in a 20-14 loss to the Raiders on Monday. But Pacheco scored one of them on a 12-yard run midway through the second quarter.

Swift made Dufner sweat a bit, as he didn’t score until the fourth quarter. Swift scored on a 5-yard run with 11:07 left in Philadelphia’s 33-25 win over the Giants to put Dufner one leg away from winning a half-million dollars.

“I’ve put plenty of these parlays down before. I’ve hit a few small ones, but obviously nothing in the realm of this,” Dufner said in a video on social media before the Niners-Ravens game. “I hope everyone out there is rooting for us tonight, and I couldn’t ask for a better guy to have my bet on the line with than Christian McCaffrey tonight.

“Merry Christmas everyone. Let’s go CMC.”

McCaffrey scored at least one touchdown in 17 consecutive games before the NFL record-tying streak ended Nov. 12 at Jacksonville. He then scored in four of the next five games before Monday night’s matchup against the Ravens.

The Niners scored only two touchdowns in their 33-19 loss to Baltimore. But McCaffrey scored one of them on a 9-yard run late in the second quarter.

Dufner held his arms aloft during a video of him watching McCaffrey’s touchdown with friends. But he waited to celebrate until a replay confirmed McCaffrey’s knee wasn’t down before he crossed the goal line. Dufner, wearing a Santa robe, then collapsed happily onto a couch.

The other legs of the parlay were Najee Harris, Gabriel Davis, Jahmyr Gibbs, DK Metcalf, Jerome Ford, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Jonathan Taylor, Calvin Ridley, James Conner, Raheem Mostert and Javonte Williams.

Eleven of the 14 legs scored in the first half. Ridley scored with 50 seconds left in the third quarter of Jacksonville’s 30-12 loss at Tampa Bay. Metcalf scored with 12:10 left in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 20-17 win over Tennessee.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.