Super Bowl LII is upon us, and the alleged mystery bettor who never loses has chosen his team: The Philadelphia Eagles.
If you don’t know, back during 2017’s World Series, a mystery bettor from Eastern Europe placed bets on and won six of the seven games in the series. He ultimately chose not to bet on Game 7, and walked away with $14 million dollars, according to SB Nation.
Those aren’t the only bets he’s ever won, either. Previously, he’d bet on a number of UFC fights, and won all of those, too. His bets were reportedly “single-handedly changing the lines in Vegas,” and that uncanny string of “luck” even led me to wonder if he could be a time traveler. Did he jump back here just to cash in? Why not?
Even that’s not the whole story. Many believe the mystery gambler isn’t actually real, that the entire thing is just some kind of unverified urban legend being pushed by certain media outlets. Whatever the case, even after several months, no one has any idea who this person is, or what’s really going on.
The mystery bettor has, however, apparently gained the moniker Bettor X.
His latest bet? That the Eagles will win Super Bowl LII outright. He’s placed $1 million “on the Eagles’ money line at +$165,” according to the Boston Globe. If correct, this would net him $1.65 million.
The Eagle Has Landed
He’s not alone: According to CBS Sports, quite a few have their eyes on the Eagles to win, despite facing off against the New England Patriots and their long history of success.
Even a psychic octopus has chosen the Eagles.
Personally, I don’t follow football much, so I have no idea which team is likely to win. A Google poll shows 57% favoring the Patriots, while 43% favor the Eagles at the time of writing. If the Patriots win, they’ll tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for most Super Bowl victories.
In stark contrast, the Eagles have made it to the Super Bowl a grand total of two times, against the Oakland Raiders in 1981 and the (uh oh) New England Patriots in 2005. This will be their third attempt, but they’ve never actually won before.
So, Eagles vs. Patriots. What do you think? I’ll be curious to see if our mystery gambler is correct once again. And don’t forget: There’s always a chance that a literal flock of eagles (excuse me, a convocation) will descend upon U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday and literally dominate Super Bowl LII, in what will be remembered as some kind of bizarre, Hitchcockian nightmare.
The prediction would still be accurate, in that case.
Update: I’ve just been informed that U.S. Bank stadium is an enclosed indoor stadium, making the presence of large numbers of actual eagles very unlikely. My only response can be that life, uh, finds a way…
Update #2: Looks like the mystery bettor (and the psychic octopus) was right again. The Eagles defeated the Patriots 41-33.
