Wayne Thomas happened upon the 20/20 College Bowl Challenge parlay card on a stop into the William Hill Sports Book at Club Fortune and picked one up. He brought it with him to a his family’s get-together on Christmas Eve, and along with Marlo – his sister – brother-in-law Bo Boschetti and a few of their kids, 20 picks were made around the table with the deadline for entry just two days away.
Marlo Thomas said she thought their ticket might be doomed after their first pick – Texas Tech -13.5 over Minnesota in the Meineke Car Care Bowl – failed to come in. But then, the family went on to hit 12 picks in a row, and hopes started to grow. Despite missing on Notre Dame +8.5 in the BCS Championship Game, the Thomas family’s 16-4 record was good enough to split the grand prize of $26,540. The other winning ticket – with a 16-4 record secured thanks to Alabama covering the 8.5-point spread against Notre Dame – was played at Bonanza in Reno.
“When Pitt lost big two days before the Alabama-Notre Dame game, I thought we were probably out of it,” Marlo Thomas said.
“I’ve been around this stuff long enough to know that 16-4 – going 80 percent – probably shot,” her husband, Bo, followed.
The Thomas family – seen above – came to Club Fortune on Jan. 8 to collect their $13,270 prize.
The guaranteed prize pool for the 20/20 College Bowl Challenge was $10,000, with a $50,000 bonus offered for any entry that went 20-for-20. All entry fees collected above $10,000 went back into the prize pool.
The Thomas family said they have no immediate plans for the winnings, but with it being split among a handful of family members who chipped in on the picks, it made the holiday season that much better.
