Sports betting is one of the most popular hobbies around, with the chance to win a life-changing sum of money attractive, as well as the fact it makes the action much more exciting to watch.
But what are some of the biggest sports betting wins of all time? Let’s take a look!
$3.5 million won on Super Bowl XLIV
Billy Walters is one of the world’s most famous sports bettors, with his massive gambles earning headlines all over the world.
The American has previously claimed that sports betting can win him between $50 to $60 million in a good year, with one of his most memorable wagers coming on Super Bowl XLIV. Walters gambled on the New Orleans Saints winning the match and he was richly rewarded with $3.5 million in winnings when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts.
Placing such large bets meant that Walters had to rely on a series of runners, as bookmakers would be reluctant to take his wagers as a result of his successful track record.As well as winning $3.5 million on Super Bowl XLIV, Walters also banked $2.2 million when he bet on University of Southern California to beat University of Michigan in 2007.
Floyd Mayweather’s $6 million bet
There is a good reason why legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather’s nickname is ‘Money’.
Mayweather is almost as famous for his massive sports betting wagers as his prowess in the ring, having bet almost $6 million on the Miami Heat to beat the Indiana Pacers back in 2013. The Heat came up trumps for Mayweather on the night and he won around $6.49 million in cash as a result of the winning wager.
Mayweather regularly posts about his sports betting hobby on social media, recently putting down a six-figure fee on Green Bay Packers to overcome San Francisco 49ers in the NFL.
The Packers won the match, with Mayweather adding more cash to his sports betting winnings.
£1 million from a 50p wager
Among the top attractions of sports betting is the opportunity to bank vast amounts of cash for a very small outlay, with Fred Craggs’ horse racing bet in 2008 one such example.
The Yorkshireman bet just 50p on eight horses to win their respective races in 2008. The odds of the bet winning were extremely remote, but the improbably wager somehow came in. That meant that Craggs won £1 million. To complete the unlikely story, the last horse on his unforgettable bet was called A Dream Come True and Craggs won the bet on his 60th birthday. “I’ve never spent more than the price of a packet of cigarettes on a bet so it is very surprising that I won this much money,” he said in an interview about his £1 million winning wager.
$2.5 million on a $140,000 bet
Dave Oancea earned the nickname Vegas Dave as a result of his sports betting exploits, which have included some massive wins, as well as some painful losses. Among the top wins recorded by Vegas Dave include when he landed $2.5 million on a $140,000 bet on Kansas City Royals to win the World Series in 2015.
It was the first time that the Royals had won the World Series for 30 years, with Oancea having to spread his massive outlay across a range of casinos in order to up his stake.
Oancea then won a $2.3 million payout the following year when the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl, while he is very famous for his big bets on the UFC too. The high-stakes gambler had won a fortune by backing Holly Holm to beat Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 and then successfully predicting that Miesha Tate would defeat Holm. But when he laid down a $1 million wager on Tate to beat Amanda Nunes at UFC 200, he lost the lot.
£1.5 million on a £2 bet
Another British punter wraps up our list of the biggest sports betting wins of all time, with Steve Whiteley earning even more than Fred Craggs thanks to his horse racing wager.
Whiteley was on a free day out at the races in Exeter and predicted the winning horse in all six races on the day, earning some £1.5 million on a £2 bet. The last of the horses on his winning ticket, Lupita, had not crossed the line first in 28 previous races over hurdles but she bucked the trend to make Whiteley a millionaire. “I like racing, yeah, but I don’t know anything about it, do I?” he said after his win.
It just goes to show how big a part luck, as well as skill, plays in winning at sports betting.
