Super Bowl bet quashed

[snopes]

Comment: Heard now from several people and in an Internet forum
discussion:

A man placed a $500 bet last August in Las Vegas that the NE Patriots
would go undefeated this season and win the Super Bowl. The odds were 4000
to 1. The night before the Super Bowl the casino called him and offered to
buy him off for $1 million. Instead the man decided to go for broke and
lost his $500 and the $1 million offer.

True or False? Urban legend I suspect.

[keokuk]

I can't find it anywhere, but given that people were discussing the possibility of an undefeated season over the summer, I don't believe for a second that the odds were 4000 to 1.

They generally don't offer odds like that on futures because they are designed to attract fans of teams to blow money away on bets that will benefit the casinos in the longrun.

Futures will usually give you the worst odds that you can get in terms of sports bets. For example, right now the longest odds on the winner of the World Series goes to Kansas City and Tampa, both at 150 to 1.

[Beachlife!]

I don't know anyone who would say no to a guaranteed $1 million on a $400 bet the would at best return $2 million. I also don't see the casino offering that kind of money as a buyout on that particular bet, even if the rest of the story is true.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Beachlife!

I don't know anyone who would say no to a guaranteed $1 million on a $400 bet the would at best return $2 million.

I guess you don't watch Deal or No Deal much ...

- snopes