Probably he was doing these crazy bets to increase wager and make a small profit on favorite teams. As you mentioned, the lack of a single goal can cost a huge like in this case. TBH, doing such bets once is acceptable but keep repeating the same method is RIP sooner or later. After making $50k on the first bet, he should stop doing this, IMHO...
It's a norm for gamblers to try to take the safer selections even with small odds because they're confident of getting something tangible because of their high staking amount. I like you said, He might be using that strategy to increase his backroll as bets like that have a higher probability of playing out as a win than chasing selections with high odds in the range of >= 3 odds <= infinity.
In my early gambling days, I was part of a community that tried out different strategies like rollover and others. We kept using bigger stakes for the smallest of odds. The goal was to win more than we lose as we believed we would still be in profit regardless.
Who's excited for more awesome content this week??
I'm pumped. Do well to bring it on. This right here is part of the reason stake is my favorite sportsbook.