Sometimes it's just not your night.
One bettor at Australian sportsbook TAB must've felt that way after losing over $228,000 during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.
The bettor made a massive pre-game wager of $228,733 on the Lakers money line at -263 odds (Los Angeles closed a 6.5-point favorite), but he'd seen enough by the second quarter. He cashed out his pre-game wager for $97,624 with the Nuggets leading 44-32 in the second quarter. The bettor then proceeded to place all of that money on the Denver in-game line of -9.5 at + 230 odds.
All was looking good late in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets, up 10 points, intentionally took a 24-second shot clock violation with 5.4 seconds left. Instead of running the clock out, though, the Lakers' Alex Caruso made an uncontested layup with 1.6 seconds left, making the final score: Nuggets 114, Lakers 106.
This isn't the only heartbreak the bettor has suffered this postseason, as TAB confirmed that this was same bettor with the big $158,000 wager at -111 odds on Over 208.5 Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. The Heat won that game 106-101 after the Celtics chose not to foul following a Marcus Smart turnover with 4.9 seconds left.
The bettor did win a $167,000 wager at -117 odds on the Lakers -7 in Game 1 of that series, which the Lakers won 126-114.