Sports betting has gotten big over the last couple of years. It has become a hobby for many people to make them feel more engaged in the games when their favourite teams or players are playing. When we think about sports betting, we may think of stories or memories where we have made bets ourselves with a couple of dollars or even a few hundreds and booked a nice win. However, in the grand scheme of things, our bets could be considered small fish in a large lake filled with sharks.
Some punters out there have managed to get in some crazy parlay bets or make some out of this world lucky punts on their favourite team to book some real monster wins. In this article, we will talk about some of the biggest and most impressive sports betting wins known to the public.
Charles Barkley – $800 000
Most people are familiar with the polarizing and loveable Charles Barkley, a member of the Naismith Hall of fame and an NBA analyst on the award-winning show Inside the NBA on TNT. Besides being known for never holding back his honest opinion, Charles Barkley is actually an avid gambler. In 2002 Sir Charles placed a bold bet on the New England Patriots winning the super bowl. This was considered a super risky bet as New England was a big underdog against the “Greatest Show on Turf,” St. Louis Rams. However, this is where the world got introduced to the man we today know as Tom Brady. After young Tom Brady upset the Rams and led the Patriots to an impressive 20-17 win, Sir Charles booked himself a hefty $800 000 win.
Phil Mickelson – $560,000
That name might sound familiar and that is because Phil Mickelson himself is a famous golfer! But during the 2000-2001 NFL season he chose to bet a very large sum on the Baltimore Ravens winning and guess what? They did and he took home this record sum, but apparently did give a larger percentage of it to his favourite charites.
James Adducci – $1.2 Million
This is a bet almost everyone loved, and it kinda broke the internet for a few days. James Adducci was an avid Tiger Woods supporter, and he decided to pull the trigger on a massive punt in 2019. He bet $85 000 on Tiger Woods winning the Masters. This bet was crazy on so many levels. The late stages of Tigers’ career were riddled with injuries, surgeries, and disappointments, but in 2019 something changed. When reports asked Tiger about his thoughts on the bet, he replied, “F$%cking great bet.”
After playing really well and displaying flashes of old Tiger, he captured his 15th major career championship. James Adduci was equally thrilled as he booked a ridiculous $1.2 million payday. Betting on your heroes can sometimes be the way to go, it seems.
Anonymous – $14 Million
Some lucky son of a gun made an absolute killing when the anonymous managed to place a successful bet on the 2017 world series. The game was being played between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Apparently, the bettor had placed multiple bets across several bookies. No one seems to know who this anonymous bettor was but heard through the grapevine that the person is supposedly an eastern European male on the younger side, under 30. The win got booked after the sixth game in the series on November 1, 2017.
Eric Lindgreen – $340,000
Not many people win when they choose a losing team, but that is how Eric Lindgreen won because he correctly predicted that a top professional golfer wouldn’t finish the four rounds of golf they had scheduled that day. A record 5 players didn’t make it making his small bet worth a very large sum indeed.
Vegas Dave – $2.5 million
This famous, better known as Vegas Dave, real name Dave Oancea became famous in Las Vegas after his crazy win when he punted $20 000 on Holly Holm in the fight versus Ronda Rousey. As we all know by now, Holly Holm knocked out Ronda cold with a beautifully accurate leg kick to the head. In this fight, he won a staggering $200 000, but this was only the start for Vegas Dave. In 2015 he booked his gigantic win when he placed a bet on Kansas City Royals winning the world series.
Vegas Dave punted a daring $140 000, and the casinos weren’t too thrilled with this action and risk profile. In order to get his bet through, Dave had to go through and involve 15 different bookmakers in a rather complicated process. However, in the end, it was worth all the work as the Kansas City Royals comfortably defeated the New York Mets 4-1, clinching the world series, and Dave clinched a massive $2.5 million win.
Steve Whiteley – $1.8 Million
Not many people can turn just £2 into £1.45 million ($1 825 274 million), but that is what Steve Whiteley from Yorkshire, UK did. This was done with a 6 race accumulator with one of the horses that he picked having never won a race before!
Charles Greyson – $735,000
While the amount pails in comparison to some of the wins on this list, the bet is nonetheless astonishing. Having bet just a single Euro on a 19 horse accumulator he correctly picked them all and 7 of them were not the bookies favourite, but rank outsiders!
Anonymous – $710,000
When Chelsea won the Champions league a lot of people wished they could have gone back in time and placed a bet on that happening, but many people did including one lucky person who each year always put £1000 on his favourite team winning. And sure thing, in 2012 that is exactly what happened. Sure, they won again in 2021, but all the best on them winning were significantly lower.
Billy Walters – $3.5 million
And our last lucky sports better is poker fan Billy Walters. While the amount he bet was truly shocking his return on that $300K bet on the outcome of Super Bowl XLIV was a whopping $3.5 million after outsiders New Orleans won.
Concluding remarks
There are, of course, more humongous sports betting wins out there, but most of them are made by anonymous people, and the highest stakes gambling wins never make it to the public eye. The sports betting wins described above are some of the most iconic wins. This is either because of the person booking the action or the circumstances around the bet. In today’s world, sports betting has become common, and today you can book action on your favourite teams with ease. If you are interested in finding good sites, you can do so by checking reviews through sites like vedonlyontiyhtiot.com to see what’s on offer. Just remember, when you do engage in sports betting, do not overindulge, and remember that it is just good fun, nothing more, nothing less.