UMBC’s upset of No. 1 Virginia produced some all-time great gambling results

UMBC’s 20-point beatdown of No. 1 Virginia wasn’t just the biggest upset in college basketball history. It was also an all-time great gambling moment.

Virginia was favored to beat the Retrievers by 20.5 points in Vegas. It turns out UMBC almost covered Virginia’s spread with a 74-54 win in the first ever win for a No. 16 over a No. 1 seed.

As you can imagine, this produced some terrible beats and some amazing winning bets.

What kind of person throws down $800 on the moneyline for a 16-1 upset? That bet should be completely indefensible ... but it just paid off in a huge way.

My question: if this person put down $800 on UMBC to win straight up, how many other No. 16 seeds has he made the same bet on in the past? This may seem like an all-timer gambling win, but the type of person who makes this bet has to have a lot of bad losses in their past.

This is just incredible. It’s not a totally reckless bet like throwing $800 on UMBC straight-up. It’s not a smart bet either, at least it’s only $40 and at least the payoff is big enough to take a chance.

Imagine hitting on this. It must have been the gambling thrill of a lifetime.

Marshall and UMBC were actually the two worst teams in the field by the time the game tipped off against UVA, according to KenPom. We loved watching Marshall’s chaotic brand of basketball. UMBC’s upset was even more mind-blowing.

This is one of those bets you throw out there just because you have $40 to burn. Now this person has some real money in their pocket.

OK, this is just a dumb bet. Is $870 really worth it if you have $20K to put on the line?

This person must have thought he was getting free money. Well, March Madness doesn’t work out like that. That he lost this money on the last game, in such dominant fashion, just goes to show even a massive moneyline parlay on favorites isn’t a sure bet.

What a moment, what a game. It was even better if you made some money on it.