Poker player Jon Lawson has earned more than $170,000 in live-poker action, but it took him almost ten years to do it.  The Nebraskan recently showed that his gambling skills extend beyond the felt, and he may have found his true calling at the same time.  With a single bet on Joe Burrow in the sports betting space, he picked up almost half of what he had earned at the poker tables.

Lawson was in Las Vegas last year for the World Series of Poker, but he didn’t have as much success as he had hoped.  He only cashed in two events, with the winnings only barely covering the buy-ins.  It was during this visit to Sin City that he decided to try something different and he placed a $500 bet at the Golden Nugget on who would win the Heisman Trophy.

Joe Burrow Bet Comes In

It turned out to be the most lucrative wager of his gambling career to date.  Having correctly chosen Joe Burrow for the bet, the multiple award-winning quarterback of LSU, Lawson took home a check worth $75,000.  Burrow, who just led the LSU Tigers to a national championship against the Clemson Tigers, was looking at 150-1 odds at the time, making him a considerable longshot for the trophy.

Lawson could have potentially seen even more winnings and might have easily broken his poker score if it weren’t for Golden Nugget policies.  He had been looking to put $1,000 on Burrow, but the casino only allowed him to place the max bet of $500.

The poker player, and possibly soon to be pro sports gambler, told SharpSide, “I got call from a friend of mine to see if I could place a wager on [Burrow] winning the Heisman and I told them I would check into it.  So I asked a buddy of mine who lives at the sportsbooks and he said to go Downtown and look. I think I was playing a poker tournament at Binion’s and was roaming around on dinner break and stopped in to Golden Nugget. I talked to their book and they gave me the sheet. I saw [Burrow] at 150-1 and wanted $1,000 on it, but they only gave me $500.”

The biggest score Lawson has had playing poker was $16,495, which he earned for taking seventh at the 2015 Heatland Poker Tour in Kansas City.  Despite not having a huge bank at the game, he’s still happy with his performance, as well as his new winnings, and added, “I have won quite a bit of money playing cash in different sessions and both feel damn good.”

Lawson has been a fan of Burrow for some time as the quarterback and future number-one draft pick continued to impress throughout the season.  He had also put $2,000 on LSU to beat Alabama Crimson Tide last November, as well as $8,000 on the point spread for that game.  LSU didn’t disappoint in either instance, winning 46-41.  Alabama had gone in as the 6.5 favorite, primarily because LSU hadn’t beaten the team since 2011.

That wasn’t the end of his support for LSU, either.  He put down money on LSU to take the championship against Clemson, which it easily did, 42-35.  His return on the win, at 30-1 odds, wasn’t too shabby, either.  Lawson had put up $300 for the win, pocketing $9,000 win the Tigers hoisted the trophy.