Sports gambling is a very emotional space, but it can be a particularly visceral and heartbreaking venture when you get into the world of parlays. The payouts can be extremely tempting, but pretty much everything needs to go right on a multi-team parlay, as just one miss will bring the entire thing crumbling down.

The beautiful thing about parlays, though, is that they don't always need to be high-risk to bring in high reward. A small bet spread across a bunch of games can bring in a massive payday, but only if you nail every one. A lot of the times these big parlays just serve as a fun little pipe dream. 

But one bettor saw their massive parlay nearly turn from pipe dream to incredible reality over the weekend when they came tantalizing close to cashing out. After hitting on the first 19 bets, the bettor just needed the Washington Redskins to beat the Chicago Bears outright on Monday Night Football in order to turn 89 cents into nearly $500,000.

Turning less than a dollar into $500k? That's the stuff of legends.

Want a free shot to win $1,000,000 just for picking winners? How about 17 of 'em? Join Parlay Pick'em now to play every week for a million-dollar jackpot and our $10K season prize.  

Unfortunately, that bettor learned just how cruel parlays can be as the Redskins played like crap against the Bears in primetime on Monday night, losing 31-15. Half a million bucks turned into a useless, worthless bet slip thanks to one dud. 

At the end of the day, it's just an 89-cent loss. But, as someone who has never come close to cashing in that heavy, it feels safe to assume that when you do come that close to hitting on a preposterous wager and cashing in with a huge payout, it feels like the money is already yours before it's ripped away from you. 

It also feels safe to assume that this person will never, ever forgive the Redskins for what they've done.