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"Sucker Bet" Could Earn Mount Holly Man $10,000
"Sucker Bet" Could Earn Mount Holly Man $10,000
POSTED: 9:15 AM EST January 23, 2004
MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. -- Page Long's faith in the Carolina Panthers could net him $10,000.
Last summer, while visiting Las Vegas, Long's sister-in-law, Lori Hunt placed a $100 bet for him that the Panthers would win the Super Bowl. Before the 2003 season started, the odds that Carolina would become NFL champions came in at 100-to-1.
"It's a sucker bet. You just don't think you're going to win when you make a bet like that," said Long, a gate supervisor for U.S. Airways for 18 years who lives in Mount Holly, just west of Charlotte. "But there's a lot I can do with that money."
Hunt placed her brother-in-law's bet with a sports book at the Luxor Hotel casino. The people who took the money tried to convince her to simply take Long's money and tell him she lost it on the roulette table, she said.
"I walked out of there feeling really dumb," Hunt said. "When I told them I wanted to put $100 on the Carolina Panthers to win the Super Bowl, they all just laughed at me. They said I'd be better off taking the money and putting it in my pocket."
After Hunt brought the voucher back with her, Long put it in a lock box and forgot about it, although he felt the Panthers had the talent to help him collect on his bet.
"I knew the Panthers had a good defense and special teams; I definitely didn't do it because they were the home team," Long said. "If I win, I'm going to take a look at some of the other teams for next year's Super Bowl and bet on them."
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