Throughout the history of sports betting there’s been plenty of great tales of people risking it all and turning a small investment into a large fortune; And we’ve heard the other end of the spectrum with people losing it all n a single sporting bet. Today we’ll take a look at some of the most infamous and well-known sports bets of all time.
- Jon Prices $500,000 wager on Floyd Mayweather. With the most hyped up fight of the century, there were more individuals betting on Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao than there were betting on Money Mayweather. One famous radio personality and sports handicapper put his money where his mouth is and put down a half a million dollar wager on Mayweather to win the fight by decision. Not only did the Sports Information Traders Handicapper win but his wager also helped to make it so that there was more money wagered on Mayweather despite more individuals betting on “Pac Man” that famous night in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the end Price said he thinks like Warren Buffett and goes against the crowd and has specific variables he follows to ensure his success.
- Super Safety: In NFL history there has only been a total of seven safeties scored in the Super Bowl. That stat didn’t deter JonaRechnitz from placing a relatively hefty $1,000 wager down on the occurrence of a safety happening in Super Bowl XLVI. At 50:1 odds from the MGM Grand Sportsbook in Las Vegas, it was a very nice payout, however, some other local sportsbooks were offering odds as good as 75:1. Jona struck it big as Tom Brady’s intentional grounding in the end zone was only the 2nd safety in history to be the first points scored in a Super Bowl matchup.
- 2011 Cardinals’ Magical Run: Toward the end of the 2011 MLB regular season, the St. Louis Cardinals were five games back with only fifteen games remaining to be played. That’s pretty close to an insurmountable lead by baseball’s standards, but not for one anonymous Cardinals’ fan who placed a wager of $250 on the Cardinals to make the World Series at 500:1 odds. And again, they doubled down on their optimism by placing a second wager of $250 on the Cardinals winning the World Series. As fate would have it, the Cardinals caught fire and not only defied the odds by making it to the Playoffs and eventually the World Series, but they won it all in a Game 7 against the Texas Rangers. The payout to the Cardinals’ fan was $375,000.
- Billy Walters’ Super Bowl Bet: Billy Walters is no stranger to the Las Vegas Bookmakers. Many sportsbooks no longer accept his bets due to his extraordinary success in sports betting over the years. However, Mr. Walters was able to place a very strong wager, at the amount of $3.5 million, on the relatively underdog Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. He later admitted that the size of the wager was an impulsive decision, driven in part due to the lack of restrictions on betting size for the Super Bowl. The Saints, of course, clinched the win on a late pick-six of Peyton Manning and earning Billy Walters his hefty payday.
- Superfecta at Saratoga: In horse racing, a “Superfecta” is the term for when a bettor places a wager on the horses to come in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Similar to a parlay bet in other sports, the bettor must get all four correct in order to win the wager. On August 23, 2008 at Saratoga Springs, NY not only did someone place a winning bet on the Superfecta, but it also turned out to be comprised of some long-shot horses. The winner of the race, Slambino, paid out at odds of 88:1 for winning the race. Two separate bettors successfully picked the Superfecta, and their wager? 10 cents. But after the accumulative odds of the Superfecta were calculated, these bettors turned their measly investment into a payout of about $76,000 each.
- Rags to Riches: In 2001, Mick Gibbs, an everyday working man from Staffordshire, England bet 47 cents on a ridiculous accumulator bet, which is similar to a parlay wager in the sense that you’re combining separate wagers to increase the payout, however, you must win all of the plays in order to win the bet; One loss nullifies the entire wager. Gibbs’ particular accumulative wager was 15-fold, meaning he had to pick the winner in 15 separate soccer matches. The odds given to him for this bet were 1,666,666:1. After winning the first 14 of his matches, it all came down to Bayern Munich vs Valencia in the Champions League finals. What had to be a gut-wrenching match to watch for Mr. Gibbs, eventually went to penalty kicks, where Bayern claimed victory, as well as Gibbs. His payout for his incredible wager that defied the odds? $784,000.
