Skip to Content
Defector Up All Night

We Have Confirmed The Existence Of America’s New Worst Bettor

Some of the more than 400 proposition bets for Super Bowl LI between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots are displayed at the Race & Sports SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on January 26, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

In the news business, things change quickly. When this week began, we all lived in a world where our own Barry Petchesky was America's dumbest bettor. By Thursday, he had ceded that title to Bert Neff Jr., a man who not only attempted to bet $100,000 on an Alabama baseball game based on a tip he'd received from an Alabama coach, but announced to the sportsbook where he was trying to place the bet that he had inside information. And yet, thanks to some late breaking news, Neff will not finish the week as America's dumbest bettor.

That honor now belongs to Amit Patel, who is currently in a lot of trouble for stealing $22 million from the Jacksonville Jaguars and blowing it all on gambling, cars, and cryptocurrency. A new ESPN report, which says that the Jags have (hilariously) asked FanDuel to return the money that Patel stole and gambled, provides some details about Patel's betting prowess:

Online records show Patel was a high-stakes and high-volume daily fantasy player on FanDuel and DraftKings, both of which are official betting partners of the NFL. Patel played daily fantasy sports as far back as 2017, the records show, and his play escalated in 2021 and 2022. ESPN previously reported that Patel played daily fantasy under the username "ParlayPicker" and was believed to have racked up big losses playing against elite competition in contests with buy-ins upward of $24,000.

One veteran daily fantasy player told ESPN on condition of anonymity that they believe ParlayPicker is "the biggest loser ever on FanDuel."

"He was legendarily bad," the person said.

ESPN

Thank you for your continued support of Defector. Onward.

If you liked this blog, please share it! Your referrals help Defector reach new readers, and those new readers always get a few free blogs before encountering our paywall.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter