The early days of sports betting look nothing like what we can do and see today. From humble beginnings, the sports betting industry got started at the horse racing track, where the richest of the rich would gather and bet on their favourite horses and jockeys, simply for a bit of fun with their friends.
Nothing serious ever came of it back in the day and people would walk away with maybe 2x their winnings if they were lucky. It was never a serious business.
Nowadays some of the winnings that professional sports bettors are taking home every weekend, make them extremely wealthy and well-known as the industry has morphed into a career stream for many. Let’s take a look at some monumental sports bet-winning stories.
Billy Walters – $3.5 million
Billy Walters is a name that all professional sports bettors know and look up to. Some of the winnings he has made in his career is something that many in the industry try to understand and try to emulate. His winnings have made him a multimillionaire that never has to step foot in an office job again. His biggest winning was a massive $3.5 million during the Super Bowl XLIV.
No one is quite sure what his bet was placed on as he’s decided to keep it as undisclosed information – perhaps a betting strategy he plans on using again in the future. The funny thing about Billy Walters is that he was a professional poker player before entering the sports betting arena – making him a somewhat astute gambler.
James Adduci – $1.2 million
The story of James Adduci’s million-dollar winning bet is one that not many could have predicted. Back in 2019, Tiger Woods had completely fallen from grace in the golfing world, with many believing that his best days were behind him. Surely, he didn’t have a chance in the 2019 PGA Tour, right? Not even a fool would bet $100 on Woods winning the entire tournament.
James Adduci, however, put in an audacious $85 000 bet on Woods winning the tour – which he did in legendary fashion, cementing himself as possibly the greatest golfer to have ever walked the planet. If Adduci’s story tells us anything, it is that without risk there will be no reward.
Charles Barkley – $800 000
Charles Barkley is one of the most recognizable names in the sporting world, not because he won a whopping $800 000 making a bet, but because he is widely considered as one of the best basketball players of all time. If he was playing at college level you can bet his team would be one of the top NCAA basketball picks.
Barkley made a crazy $500 000 bet, which many people lamented him for due to it being risky and overly indulgent. Barkley, however, had the last laugh as the bet ended up returning a profit of around $300 000. The bet was placed on the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl back in 2002.