Charlie Buttrey

August 31, 2024

I am not a huge tennis fan so, until yesterday, I had never heard of Botiv Van de Zandschulp (but what a great name!).  Van de Zandschulp, who hails from the Netherlands, was in the news after engineering a historic upset at the U.S. Open where, despite being unseeded and ranked 74th in the world, he upset the #3 seed, the defending U.S. Open champ (and Paris Olympics silver medalist) Carlos Alcaraz.

This was not good news for one particularly intrepid gambler.

BetMGM announced that someone placed a $25,000 bet on Alcarez to win the match. Had Alcarez won, the bettor would have netted… $250. That’s a return of one percent, while risking the loss of the entire investment.

I’m no Warren Buffett, but I know a bad financial move when I see one.

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