They are the Kings of Queens, and they’re coming up aces — for now at least.
Bayside buddies Brian Yankelevitz and Russ Axelrod’s faith in a one-time floundering 4-6 Green Bay Packers — emboldened by a bold Aaron Rodgers prediction — has turned their $300 Las Vegas bet into a $30,000 windfall.
On Nov. 25, the childhood chums plunked down three c-notes on the Packers to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 28, after hearing Rodgers predict his team would, “run the table.”
If they won, they vowed they would let it ride every week on the green and gold—all or nothing straight through Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5.
Fast forward nine weeks — and eight victories and parlay bets later — and the pair’s stake is up to $28,213.60.
Soon after Rodgers’ last-second heroics lifted the Packers past the Dallas Cowboys 34-31 last week, Axelrod, 40, didn’t think twice about what to do next.
It was back to the Aria Resort & Casino, where he cashed the winning ticket and bet it all on the Packers to beat the Atlanta Falcons in this Sunday’s NFC title game in the Georgia Dome at 3:05 p.m.
If the Pack prevails, the two will win $76,176.70.
And then its one final bet on the Super Bowl, a wager that will pay off about $200,000.
“We are all in! It’s the stuff of legends if it happens. We are doing it for all gamblers!” Axelrod said.
Yankelevitz, 43, a Jets fan who now lives in Orlando, Fla., and Axelrod, an Eagles supporter and Vegas resident, go back to their days at PS 169, IS 25 and Bayside High School. The guys have played together — and wagered together — on cards, football, and the ponies ever since.
“We’d go to OTB on Bell Boulevard when we were in 9th and 10th grade and have the guys place our bets,” Yankelevitz said. “My grandfather liked the horses and would take me out of school one day a year and we’d go and sit in the clubhouse at Aqueduct and I’d bet. We were sports guys and we gravitated towards it.
“When you grow up with guys with nicknames Ice, Tommy No Neck, Cheetah, KO, Exacta, how could you not have a few gamblers?” he joked.
Asked if he was feeling lucky, Axelrod said, “I defer to Aaron Rodgers for all predictions.”
Yankelevitz did his best Joe Namath imitation, predicting 41-38 Packers. “Mason Crosby from 52 with no time left to win it.”
And then it’s party time.
Vegas will turn into Bayside west!” he added.