I don't consider that a risky bet, although I probably wouldn't have gone so high of a strike price, but high implied volatility does that to people.

Either way, they can sell from month options to finance the cost of their back month speculation, bringing their cost basis to zero or even less.

Now they would have a free trade that still has the whole upside potential, even better than a lottery ticket.

And finally, if it doesn't look like the bet is going to pay off within the last 3 - 6 months, they can rollover the long contract into the December 2019 options, mostly financing the purchase of the new long dated contract.

Options allow you to control risk, which is why it isn't inherently a risky bet.