• 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.

Federal authorities in Florida on Wednesday charged a 23-year-old sports bettor known as 'Parlay Patz' with transmitting threats of violence directed at professional and collegiate athletes and their friends and families.

Patz gained notoriety in the sports betting world through a series of articles published in 2019 detailing his $1.1 million in gross winnings from parlays, usually large favorites on the money line. He bet $90 on Floyd Mayweather beating Manny Pacquiao but ended up losing the money. He also won $75,000 from a 12 team parlay but only got $12,000 of it because it was on an illegal offshore site. Patz incredible run started when he bet $19,000 on the Green Bay Packers moneyline and they won.

According to the criminal complaint, Benjamin Tucker Patz of New York used multiple anonymous accounts on social media in 2019 to make threats against athletes, including members of the New England Patriots, several Major League Baseball teams and multiple college basketball and football players. Some of the threats contained derogatory terms and racial slurs.

Patz is charged with transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in federal prison.

Patz did not immediately respond to phone and email messages from ESPN.

On March 9, 2019, Patz allegedly sent four Instagram direct messages to an unidentified Pepperdine basketball player, stating, 'Your throat will be severed open with a dull knife,' 'Your entire family will be beheaded and burned alive,' 'I will enter your home as you sleep and kill you' and 'Watch your back, you're a dead man walking.'

In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent Daniel Nowak said the Instagram account behind the threats to the Pepperdine player was registered with an email address linked to Patz. The criminal complaint identifies similar threats made on Instagram against a college basketball player for Arizona, players for the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays, and the girlfriend of an Atlanta Braves player.

The complaint claims that approximately 18 messages were sent from the Instagram account @parlaypatz to college and professional football and basketball players. More than 300 more threatening messages were directed at players from anonymous accounts that authorities believe are linked to Patz.

'Your worthlessness costed me over 100,000$ tonight! Sad!' a Dec. 22, 2019, message from @parlaypatz to a college basketball player for Arizona said. Arizona lost to St. John's 70-67 the previous night.

Citing betting records from bookmaker William Hill, investigators allege that Patz placed a parlay wager on July 25, 2019, on the Cleveland Indians, four other MLB teams and a professional tennis player. Roughly 45 minutes before the Indians played Kansas City, a Royals player received two direct messages on Instagram, stating, 'I will cut open the throat of your baby' and 'You will die.'

On Feb. 3, 2019, according to the complaint, Patz posted a screenshot of a $10,000 bet on the Los Angeles Rams against the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. On the same day, the complaint states that multiple players for the Patriots received direct messages on Instagram threatening to 'rape' and 'murder' family members.

'His substantial and persistent online sports wagering suggests that Patz may have threatened athletes who played in games on which he had unsuccessfully wagered and lost money,' Nowak said in his affidavit, 'or that he may have tried to influence the outcome of upcoming sports events on which he had wagered.'

U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Amy Filjones said Patz was charged in the Middle District of Florida because the Rays players were there when he allegedly made threats to them after they lost a home game to the White Sox in July.

Parlay Patz Twitter

It wasn't immediately clear if Patz would face charges in other districts for the other threats. He had arranged to turn himself in but wasn't yet in custody Wednesday evening, Filjones said. It wasn't known if he had an attorney.

'The safety of our players and staff is paramount and all threats are taken seriously,' Rays spokesman Dave Haller said in a statement. 'The Rays and the players involved are cooperating with the FBI as the legal process continues.'

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.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

• Beginning November 1, Ben Patz AKA Parlay Patz started his claim to fame trail with sports betting.
• Patz has won over a million dollars since his start with legalized sports betting.
• The Parlay King will be moving to the west coast and leaving his parlay days with William Hill Sportsbook behind him.

NEW YORK – Ben “Parlay Patz” Patz may be ending his sports betting endeavors on a hot streak at the end of the year.

If you haven’t heard of Parlay Patz, now dubbed the Parlay King, you’ve been missing out on quite the ride. In 38 days, the 23-year-old New Yorker has won $1,165,663 on 10 different parlay wagers.

This kind of winning at US sportsbooks is unprecedented which is why the young sports bettor quickly became a household name. But as 2019 comes to a close, so seems the legend of the Parlay King’s continued reign.

From Then To Now In The World Of Patz

Patz is a student at Columbia University and the Co-Founder and Chairman of Lakeworth Holdings LLC, a global investment company. This allowed him some breathing room to be able to place wagers in the manner in which he did.

He joined William Hill Sportsbook in October and began his path to big winnings in November when he started betting strictly on the moneyline for his parlays. All his wagers were done through William Hill’s mobile sports betting platform from a grocery store parking lot in New Jersey. New York, where Patz resides does not offer legal mobile wagers.

Since becoming a millionaire in what has been a whirlwind of sports bets, Patz has started enjoying the fruits of his labor. He bought into a timeshare in the British Virgin Islands and chartered a private plane for a mini-vacation for himself and some of his friends.

He’s also made other purchases, treating himself to the latest iPhone which makes sense as it’s kind of his “office” since he uses it for all of his parlaying ventures. But despite it all, Patz is not into wagering for the sake of wagering.

He can place bets or not, he does it for fun but he can give it up at any time and that time is now.

Patz will not be finishing his studies at Columbia, opting to move back to his hometown of Napa, California at the beginning of 2020.

Leaving New York and his bridge ride to New Jersey means Patz will also be leaving his parlaying days of 2019. He will continue to place wagers until his move if he finds anything of interest, though, as his new home of California has not yet legalized sports betting.

This isn’t the first time in his history with wagering that Patz has taken a break only to come back again. The question is, will he use an offshore sportsbook if he gets the itch as a Californian or will he trek to Nevada to place his parlays? Ending on a hot streak is something not often seen and Patz again shows he’s not only intelligent when it comes to sports betting, but knowing when to walk away as well. Either way, the legend of the Parlay King of 2019 will remain intact.

Parlay Patz Bets Against

Christina has been writing for different platforms for years. She has a particular interest in writing about any and all sports-related news. If there is a game on, she’s watching it. She has been writing for USAOnlineSportsbooks since 2019.