The best odds in the sports book are straight bets on teams plus or minus the points or totals (commonly referred to as the over/under), which is a wager on whether the combined final score will be more or less than the posted total (see below on how to read a betting line). Parlays and teasers, like exactas in horse racing and hard way bets in craps, are more interesting and fun—and potentially more lucrative. In a parlay, your wager consists of multiple teams and/or totals, each of which has to win to cash in on the parlay. The more teams or totals you hit, the bigger the payday. The minimum bet is just $2, there are 118 teams and totals from which to choose. Getting all three right on a parlay card pays 6-for-1, or $12. Bet $10 and hit five right and the payout is 23-for-1, or $230. Teaser cards improve the point spreads in the bettor’s favor, though the payouts are not as rich as a parlay card’s.

Monster paydays await those with a nose for upsets and blowouts on the reverse teaser card, or as Walker calls it the, “Armageddon card,” which exaggerates the point spreads. Take, for example, a recent NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Mirage’s parlay card had the Steelers -3½ points and the Bengals +3½, while the reverse teaser card had the Steelers -11½ and the Bengals -3½. But instead of offering 6-for-1 on the parlay card for hitting three games right, the reverse teaser card pays a juicier 35-for-2. (On the weekend I visited, had I just plunked $10 on the reverse teaser card and bet on Purdue, Auburn, Iowa, Cal, South Carolina, Georgia, Arizona State, the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants, I would have walked away with $100,000!)