Chicago Collapse

I'm back, and via email Antoine Anchovy, possibly not his real name, wrote:

Hi there Calcio,

I’d like to do a roundup list of betting experts sharing their biggest WIN and how they managed to pull it off (in 100 words or less).

You being a respected and highly-followed punter online, I’d like to hear your story. What do you think?

Let me know if you need any more details.

Thanks for your attention,

Calcio? While I am, of course, both respected and highly-followed, most people call me Cassini, but I answer to many names, not all of them polite. 

While I've written on my biggest single win before, I've never been challenged to do it in 100 words or less, and I do like a challenge, so here was my reply:

My biggest win occurred on May 26,2011.

Miami Heat was playing an NBA play-off game in Chicago, and with four minutes remaining, trailed by nine points to the Bulls.

I decided to lay £30,000 at 1.03, risking £900. The bet was taken shortly afterwards, and the Bulls price dropped to 1.01 as the lead extended to 12.

I’d accepted the loss, but with 3:02 remaining the Heat, at that time starring LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch, lived up to their name and got hot.

Miami made up the deficit with one minute remaining, eventually winning by three points.

Exactly 100 words. Perfect for the response, but it's hard to tell the full story in so few words. The bet was taken when the Bulls had an eleven point lead and two free-throws, when 1.03 looked to be a value back. 

I was too slow to cancel it, and was slightly annoyed as the price dropped to 1.01, but any regrets were soon forgotten, and of course the beauty of laying at prices in that range is that the downside is very small.

Ronnie Brewer missed the second free-throw, which kept the lead down to twelve, and with 3:02 remaining, Dwayne Wade reduced the deficit to ten, and then eight after a steal. Momentum can change fast in the NBA.

After Taj Gibson missed a field goal for Chicago, Lebron James hit a three-pointer, and all of a sudden it was a five point game, and I started to lock in some profits. It's hard not to do this when that 1.03 / 1.01 shoots out.

Derrick Rose scored a field goal to extend the Bulls lead to seven, but that was the end of scoring for them, with the exception of one free throw.

Dwayne Wade made a four-point play, Derrick Rose missed, and a LeBron James three-pointer tied the game up with exactly 1:00 remaining.

The 18-3 run was closed out by a field-goal from LeBron James, and two free-throws from Chris Bosch.

I paid close to £4,800 that week on Premium Charges, still at the 20% level in those days, but it was a win I'll not forget in a hurry. 

I even made an exception to my rule of sharing neither wins nor losses with Signora Cassini that night, (she's not interested in either, which is good), and her reaction when I woke her and told her? 

"That's quite a lot", she said, and promptly went back to sleep, an activity that didn't come quite so easily to me that night.