2024 Stanley Cup Finals: Three-Leg Parlay Could Pay $600K

The NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals don’t start until Saturday. Game 1 is set for 8:00 p.m. Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, the home of the state’s Panthers. Florida will host the Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. 

One bettor will be chomping at the bit, hoping that the Oilers, who haven’t won a Stanley Cup since the 1989-90 season, come through with a series victory. Barstool’s Dave Portnoy will also have his eye on the Oilers as he stands to benefit substantially from an Edmonton win. Unlike Portnoy, our mystery bettor used a bonus bet to craft a neat three-leg parlay that could net him almost $600K ($584K to be exact).

Let’s see how the mystery bettor and Portnoy got here.

Betting on Champions

The unknown bettor is currently holding a ticket that he put together months ago. It all started shortly before the NFL Wild Card weekend. Prior to the NFL wild card games, this bettor used a $1,000 bonus bet on a three-leg parlay that started with the Kansas City Chiefs. The first bet was on the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl. 

Kansas City, of course, rallied to win Super Bowl LVIII in overtime, 25-22. That kept the parlay in play. The second leg of the bet was the UEFA Champions League winner. The bet was on Real Madrid, which came through with a 2-0 win in the final on June 1. That leaves the final leg of the parlay.

The anonymous bettor took +58400 odds on this parlay which includes the Oilers defeating the Panthers for the Stanley Cup. Should that happen, our bettor earns a cool $584,000. Edmonton is the underdog heading into the Stanley Cup Finals. Florida is favored at -125 with the Oilers a +105 underdog.

Have the Florida Panthers Ever Won a Stanley Cup?

Portnoy’s Futures Bets Making Bank

Portnoy has not parlayed his futures bets, but he has produced some nice payouts over the last six months. It started in January with bets on both Michigan and Washington in their respective College Football Playoff semifinal games. The pair of wagers netted Portnoy $1.5 million. See our awesome Alabama hedge bet here that netted us nearly $3K

Next up for Portnoy was the Super Bowl where he took home another $500K when the Chiefs beat the 49ers. He then moved on to March Madness where he placed a $600K wager on UConn to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship. The Huskies won their second consecutive title and Portnoy collected a cool $2.1 million. 

Now, Portnoy stands to win another $1.2 million if Edmonton comes through with a Stanley Cup win. The Barstool Sports owner actually placed the bet on the Oilers during their opening round series against the Los Angeles Kings. 

Does a Hedge Make Sense?

Both Portnoy and the mystery bettor could attempt to hedge their bets and lock in a profit. That would mean wagering on Florida, the current favorite to win the Stanley Cup Finals. The Panthers are currently favored at -128 odds at SportsBetting.ag sportsbook. The underdog Oilers are going for +108 to pull the upset. 

Both bettors essentially are playing with free money and could opt for a guaranteed payout. They would likely opt to bet the Panthers in the futures market, but there are some other bets they could choose. The Over/Under on the total number of games is set at 5.5 right now. The Over is juiced at -188 and a series going 5 or fewer games is getting +152 odds.

There is also Game 1. Again, that will be played in Florida with the Panthers currently sitting as a -140 home chalk at BetUS sportsbook. The Panthers have been favored in 16 of their 17 playoff games this season and they are 12-5 overall. They beat Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers in their opening games of the series and lost to Boston in their Game 1.

The Panthers would like to erase the memory of last year when they lost to Vegas in 4-1 in five games. Florida lost three of those games by 3-plus goals. The Panthers have smothered opponents this postseason, allowing the second-fewest goals (2.29) among all playoff teams. Regardless, a hedge on the Panthers seems to be the logical play at least for our mystery bettor. Portnoy is already up over $4 million and would only be out $150K if Florida does win.