Zach Ertz was one of the heroes of Sunday night’s game between the Washington Commanders and Atlanta Falcons, catching the game-winning touchdown in overtime to clinch Washington’s first playoff berth since 2020.
The score was Ertz’s second of the game, which should have been great news for a DraftKings bettor who needed Ertz to score twice for the final leg of a three-leg parlay that also nailed Malik Nabers and Mike Evans scoring twice. The bet was for $15 on +453500 odds, which would’ve won more than $68,000.
Zach Ertz 2+ TDs away from $68K…
This hitting?
(via @dillonwolfe011/@DKSportsbook) pic.twitter.com/2bc8X9C6zQ
— br_betting (@br_betting) December 30, 2024
By now, you can probably guess what happened next. The bettor got a little antsy after Ertz scored his first touchdown midway through the third quarter and they cashed out in the fourth for a mere $590. One extra period later, Ertz ended up getting that second touchdown.
This is pain.
The bettor cashed out during the 4th quarter…
Zach Ertz scored his 2nd TD on the OT winner. https://t.co/B5JMOt7zeh pic.twitter.com/5jvjotKpYF
— br_betting (@br_betting) December 30, 2024
You can understand the bettor’s impulse to take the cashout, and turn that $15 bet into $600. Ertz hadn’t scored twice in a game since 2021, and Washington’s offense didn’t seem especially pressed after reclaiming a lead in the fourth quarter. It took an unlikely Atlanta game-tying drive to force that overtime.
At the same time, that’s a tough cashout to take when the option was $1,700 before the game. It’s even tougher in hindsight knowing it could have been $68,000.
