A New York sports bettor known as “Parlay Patz” faces charges for threatening athletes who have the ability to impact his bets. The criminal complaint, which was filed Feb. 24 in Florida by FBI Special Agent Daniel Nowak, alleges that Benjamin Tucker Patz used anonymous social media accounts to threaten NFL, MLB, college basketball and college football players, as well as their friends. The complaint also says that after Patz bet $10,000 on the Rams to win the Super Bowl, and they lost to the New England Patriots, Patz sent a direct message to a Patriots player with the initials.

• According to ActionNetwork.com (which features Patz's bets), the amateur gambler collected nearly $700,000 in just three weeks from parlay bets. The run for Patz started when he hit a 15-leg parlay for $237,000. The total cost for this parlay? Patz followed this up with a 13-leg parlay that paid out $326,000 and cost him a total of $7,000.
• Patz gained notoriety in the sports betting community and was profiled in the media after he reportedly won multiple high-dollar parlay bets, leading to the 'Parlay Patz' nickname. His @parlaypatz Instagram account was still up Wednesday, including posts about his winning more than $333,000 on 13-team parlay in November.

• Famous sports bettor Ben Patz has been charged with sending death threats to athletes and their families.
• Patz was apprehended in Florida this morning and is due in court later today.
• The threatening messages targeted 307 different accounts, primarily college and professional athletes.

TAMPA – Benjamin ‘Parlay’ Patz, a 23-year-old who earned fame for a number of successful high-money sports bets, has been charged with sending threatening messages to college and professional athletes, as well as their close friends and family.

Patz, whose nickname stems from his unusual success at placing winning parlay bets, allegedly sent threats of violence against players and their family members via an Instagram alias.

The alleged threats included promises to break into athletes’ homes to “dismember” them and “rape” and “murder” family members, including the daughter of an unnamed Baltimore Orioles player.

Several of these threats also included explicit racial epithets and slurs in addition to death threats. This could potentially reclassify the threats as a hate crime, which under Florida law can result in an aggravated sentence. The charges against Patz carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

One of the more disturbing prevailing motifs throughout these threats is the use of a dull knife to cut the athletes and their families as they sleep. The phrase “dull knife” is included in eight different messages cited in official documents of the criminal complaint.

Patz turned himself into Tampa authorities earlier this morning and is set to appear in court later this afternoon for an initial hearing. His legal representation declined requests for comment.

Evidence Against Patz

After subpoenaing Instagram to obtain the threatening messages in question, FBI Special Agent Daniel Nowak and fellow investigators found that the account they originated from was registered using an email and cell phone number registered to Patz.

Investigators then cross-referenced the messages with betting records obtained from William Hill sportsbook, which Patz was known to frequent. They found that the messages coincided with a number of bets Patz had placed.

For instance, on June 29, 2019, Patz placed a five-way parlay bet that included both the Cleveland Indians and the German national women’s soccer team.

The Indians lost to the Baltimore Orioles later that day, while Germany lost to Sweden in the Women’s World Cup Quarterfinals. Later that night, players for the Indians, Orioles, and the Swedish women’s national soccer team all received death threats from the aforementioned alias account.

Two more Instagram accounts were connected to Patz via emails registered in his name. These three accounts sent messages to 307 other accounts, with “nearly all the accounts receiving threatening or explicit messages,” according to court documents.

Disclaimer: these documents include graphic and disturbing language.

Investigators also found that six IP addresses connected to the alias accounts were also used by Patz’s primary Instagram account, which has since been deleted. Two of these IP addresses are registered in Napa, California, which corresponds to the area code for Patz’s phone number. Two more are registered in France, where Patz was enrolled at American University in Paris.

A search warrant issued by a Florida judge allowed investigators to access the emails used to register the alias accounts, which contained a variety of information identifying Patz as the account owner, including PayPal statements, personal emails naming him, and more.

Patz’s main account also sent messages to players, although none included threats of violence. Instead, they referenced unsuccessful bets Patz had allegedly made and accosted players for their performance.

On December 21, 2019, the University of Arizona lost a basketball game to St. John’s University. Arizona had been favored by 12 points going into the matchup. After the game concluded, an Arizona college basketball player received this message from Patz’s Instagram:

“Your worthlessness costed me over $100,000 tonight. Sad!!”

The player, who will remain anonymous, responded, “Gambling is a dangerous habit. You’re addicted. Stop it. Get some help!”

Patz’s account sent similar messages to football players for the University of Southern California and the University of Oregon.

Last year, Patz won over a million dollars on bets made between October 27 and December 8.

Parlay Patz Bets Picks

In a December interview, Patz discussed his social media presence and referenced the fact that he had previously had a Twitter account suspended.

'Maybe it's good I couldn't get a Twitter account,” Patz said, “because I'd probably go back at people. At the end of the day though, my life has improved because of the techniques I've used that have won me all this and what anyone has to say about it doesn't really change that.'

The implications of this response are obviously disturbing, given the charges he now faces. It remains to be seen what will happen to Patz’s winnings. William Hill could potentially claim that Patz’s messages constitute tampering and sue him to get their money back.

They could also look to sue for civil damages as a result of Patz’s public connection to the sportsbook.

The targeted athletes and their families could also sue for damages in civil court, and would likely have a strong case, given the direct connection between death threats and Patz’s bets.

With a background in sport performance and business analytics, Carter’s writing focuses on engaging readers while simultaneously providing them with the empirical data they need to make informed, winning decisions.

• Ben “Parlay Patz” Patz is a sports bettor in New York that won over a million dollars in 42 days.
• From betting on the moneyline of NFL games, Patz has hit many parlays with incredulous odds.
• The abilities of Patz is a great example of how bettors should interact with their sportsbook.

NEW YORK – While the skill of sports betting comes easy to some people, others continue to throw money into a pit of despair. Last month, a younger sports bettor from New York showed the world just exactly how to bet on sports through a method that many falter with – parlays.

Parlay Patz, as he is known by his friends, has won over $1.16 million in just 42 days. The first of his winnings came as he won a 15-team moneyline parlay netting $237,200 from an $1800 risk. With odds of +13178, Parlay Patz increased his bankroll and only continued his success. He brought in another near-$85,000 from three separate parlays – all of which he laid at least $20,000 on.

After being up nearly one-third of a million dollars, Parlay Patz more than doubled his money betting on an NFL Sunday with a 13-team parlay.

The King of Parlays has many notable accomplishments from his run of winning wagers, but none are as impressive as the $463,877 he won over the course of four wagers, in a seven-day period.

While parlays are a difficult way to make money, Ben “Parlay” Patz has seemed to find the best betting strategy to make money.

Patz is now definitely considered a sharp (professional) but square bettors (general public) are notorious for betting with their hearts and not their heads. Plenty of examples from legal sports betting in 2019 have proven this to be the case.

New York’s (New Jersey’s) Love For The Home Team

Parlay Patz Bets Against

To begin the NFL betting season, sports bettors in New York were excited about having a sportsbook at the stadium of their beloved New York Giants and New York Jets. What could be better for a bettor than putting money where their mouth is, and seeing their bet unfold while at the stadium?

The ending result was not as expected, as the Jets (5-9) and Giants (3-11) have the seventh and third-worst record this season of any NFL team, respectively.

Still, the sportsbooks in New Jersey saw plenty of action come in on the home teams before the season began.

According to NFL betting data sent in an email to USAOnlineSportsbooks.com from FanDuel Sportsbook – the sports wagering operator at the Meadowlands – the Jets were the third-most bet on team to win the Super Bowl. Additionally, Jets’ bettors allowed FanDuel to collect the fourth-most money of any team to win the Super Bowl.

While the Jets improved their roster in the offseason, bettors found themselves in the typical trend of betting with their emotions.

Countless times throughout the season, bettors continued to bite the bullet. During the opening weekend, Giants’ bettors saw as much as 90% of the spread betting handle in favor of the G-Men on the road against the Dallas Cowboys. Similarly, the home-team Jets received 89% of the spread betting handle compared to the 11% that bettors risked on the Bills.

These trends continued throughout the NFL season, and bettors found themselves constantly adding more and more money to their sports betting accounts without any profit. But the NFL isn’t the only sport that New Yorkers found themselves heavily invested in the home teams.

The New York Yankees had nearly 90,000 more bets than any other team and were the most popular team by both bet count and handle. While they were a team destined to make a deep playoff run, the sheer number of extra bets on the Yankees is the proof in the pudding.

Improving Your Betting Habits With Help From Parlay Patz

While parlays are a sure way to lose money, Patz is still a prime example of how bettors should interact with a sportsbook. Through a system he put in place, Patz realized a winning strategy and rolled with it – regardless of which team he was betting on. He showed no favoritism and only looked at winning money as opposed to hoping his bet would hit because he had bet on his favorite teams.

“My life has improved because of the techniques I’ve used that have won me all this,” said Patz.

Whenever a big-time bettor makes the headlines, there is always something to take note of from their successes. Patz is no stranger to admitting his defeats – something that some bettors like to avoid in conversation. He is aware that with betting, sometimes one will be a winner but most times a loser.

But Patz’s strategy comes from only betting on teams to win (on the moneyline). He avoids point totals and spreads because of his understanding that athletes are only looking to win the game at hand, not win by a certain amount.

Patz is also keen on making sure he is wagering on the right games. He never bets on sports just to have action and focuses on what he knows to beat the books.

“I can go days without looking at a game or at scores,” said Patz.

Though these are only a handful of betting tips and strategies, it still gives plenty of sports bettors an opportunity to refocus their game plan. Not many will have the same success as Parlay Patz but there is always something to learn from a bigtime bettor.

Michael spends most of his time betting on over/unders and analyzing algorithms in attempts to beat the book. His focus on statistics comes from an early understanding of mathematics as well as knowledge of opportunity costs. Michael enjoys playing basketball and reading about the NBA whenever he has the free time. When he is not writing, he can be found in Mississippi hitting the sportsbooks and enjoying a margarita… on the rocks, no salt.