The Michigan State fan who placed a $20,000 bet on Dec. 5 that the Spartans would win the national championship is one weekend away from winning $1 million, ESPN reports.
Derek Stevens convinced the sportsbook director at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to approve a bet that at the time had 50-1 odds.
According to ESPN, the bettor, who is a University of Michigan alum but who also roots for the Spartans, had never placed such a large wager.
One man, @DerekJStevens, has $1M riding on Spartans bet http://t.co/tyG3q7zpY3 pic.twitter.com/z19CaQkJS6
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 31, 2015
“In my nine years at this sportsbook, I never accepted a bet that could result in us paying $1 million,” sportsbook director Tony Miller told ESPN’s Darren Rovell. “The most I’ve ever seen won here was a $100,000 parlay.”
Miller told ESPN that this bet “would be a massive loss for us.”
The Golden Nugget has seen losses of up to $30,000, but never anything close to a million, he said.
No. 7 seed Michigan State is the Cinderella story of 2015 as the only non-No. 1 seed left in the tournament. The Spartans are now two games from a title after winning an overtime thriller against four-seed Louisville.
The East Region champion Spartans will play the the winner of the South bracket, No. 1 seed Duke on Saturday.
Miller told ESPN that he isn’t sure he will watch on Saturday.