Large sport betting wins are not something we see so often when it comes to gambling-casino wins are always one step ahead. However, with the legalization of sports betting in many more multiple states of the U.S. and further afield, you can understand how for this very reason, many more winners are to be announced moving forward.
The global sports betting market reached an all-time high in 2020, with a $203 billion estimated worth, making it a hugely progressive industry in comparison to others. Within the gambling industry, there are 197,000 employees and counting, and these are spread across the 37,000 established legitimate businesses within this sector. If the US was allowed to have complete freedom when it comes to gambling, without restrictions, the US alone would amount to $67 billion a year.
A huge fraction of the total market would be isolated to that region due to the huge enthusiasm for sports such as the NFL, NBA and so on. Before we get into the actual figures of wins and so on, let us just remind you that roughly 100 million people watched the Super Bowl last year. With so many viewers and those that were able to gamble, there is no wonder that huge wins could be possible, as that is a lot of money in one pot, right? Regardless, below are some of the biggest sports betting wins in history.
Tiger Woods master bet
We all love a little bit of golf, right? Especially when Tiger Woods, the once all-time favorite is involved. While he has most certainly had his struggles, many considered him a sure bet. Some of the cold bettors out there actually put a cap, one of which being James Adducci, with $85,000 to be precise, back in 2019’s Masters. The enthusiastic punter placed his bet at William Hill, and at the time Adducci had 14/1 payout odds. He managed to win a total of $1.2 million for his troubles. Do you want to know the ultimate kicker and disbelief here? It was actually Adducci’ first ever bet!
Kansas City Royals future
This second largest bet saw ‘Vegas Dave’ bring home a major winner. With his $100k bet, he managed to make a 2400% return on his bet by selecting Kansas City Royals at 30/1 odds back in 2015. It is believed that no sportsbook wanted to take the entire bet, so he evenly spread the entire 100,000 across multiple separate bookmakers to make it happen. You could certainly call this confidence, couldn’t you? Nevertheless, Dave took $2.5 million from that persistent bet. What a day that must have been for him. One that goes down in history too.
15-leg NFL parlay
A Parlay bet is one where you place a series of bets (an exotic type of bet), and you must win them all to take the win. Tayla Polia did exactly that and took a 15-leg parlay with odds of 20,000/1. What is even more amazing here is, the $5 bet placed earned her a 2.9 million percent return from such a miniscule bet. It was one which included 5 underdogs on a Moneyline, with 9 favorites. Polia made it all look like an easy game which is crazy, since it was her second bet ever that she played… Some people are just massively lucky.
Leicester City Premier League future
This next story features the English Premier League, with Leicester City to be more precise. One lucky bettor had managed to turn their £100 into a £200,000 win, just by selecting the underdogs with 5000/1 odds, as their choice of league champions. While back in the day this was massively unbelievable, anything can happen nowadays, and Leicester really did defy all odds to get back into the Premier League. The bettor who placed the bet managed to return a 199,000% profit, which is pretty amazing if you ask us.
Phil Mickelson Baltimore Ravens future
The last betting tale we have today, to make it in our top 5 stories, is from the fellow Phil Mickelson. Sports athletes do not often put down wagers, but when they do they probably know the facts of sports teams down to a t, so it boils down to good factual knowledge, right? Phil happened to use his knowledge by placing a $20,000 bet on the Baltimore Ravens during the 2000/2001 season. And guess what? The 22/1 odds win got him a huge $560k win at the end of it, as the Baltimore’s managed to take home the Super Bowl.
Story by William Hill
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