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You don’t need to look far to find figures supporting the claim that sports betting is a lucrative industry. Avid gamblers will place bets on their favorite sports, and sometimes with reckless abandon that leads them to gamble huge amounts. Now, this isn’t always the case – sometimes, bettors will place smart wagers of high amounts, which, in turn, leads them to win huge amounts, too.
That’s why I thought I’d put together this little collection of some of the biggest bets, the biggest wins, and some of the greatest wagers in history. It may put some things into perspective when you bet at your favorite sportsbook.
So, come take a look at some of those epic sports bets and find out whether or not they were successful ones.
Floyd Mayweather Proves His Worth
When you think of the name Floyd Mayweather, you generally think of professional boxing more than anything else. However, Mayweather has also become one of the professionals of the gambling world, too.
But nothing has yet managed to top the $5.9 million bet that he placed on the Miami Heat basketball team. In a game that took place against the Indiana Pacers, Mayweather managed to bag himself a total of $6.49 million from his wager, proving that he’s successful in more ways than one.
The 2010 World Cup Fever Claims a Victim
The summer of 2010 saw the World Cup take place in South Africa, and, as with every time this tournament occurs, a frenzy took over the globe. As teams played against one another, wagers were placed here, there, and everywhere.
The bet seemed to be playing out well for him, with the score remaining at 0-0 throughout the first half. Yet the second half wasn’t as fortuitous for the gambler, as Spain proved their worth by scoring a goal at the 73rd minute. The German team was denied a late penalty later on, too, which saw the bettor lose out on a huge winning total.
Politics Edges Its Way into Things
While not a sport per se, politics bets are often available at bookies. Back in 2014, a referendum took place in Scotland, which saw the public vote on whether or not the country should leave the United Kingdom. The results saw the majority vote opt to remain, but this wasn’t quite the biggest shock of the year. An anonymous bettor placed a £900,000 wager on the outcome being a “no” to independence for Scotland. This bet won, and he took home a nice £193,000 on top.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of significance to the saying “quit while you’re ahead.” The May general election came around next, and he chose to bet on the outcome of this, too. He believed that the outcome of the election would result in a hung parliament. In fact, he was so sure of this that he took the opportunity to place a bet of £200,000 on it. But this wasn’t what happened at all, and his entire gamble was lost to the political game.
Super Bowl Shenanigans
The name of Billy Walters has become quite synonymous with the sports betting world, as he is recognized as being one of the most successful gamblers in this area. In fact, he’s been so successful that multiple betting establishments have banned him from placing wagers for this reason.
Perhaps none of Billy’s bets have been quite as legendary as his 2010 Super Bowl stake, though. He went all out and decided to make a $3.5 million bet that the New Orleans Saints would go on to defeat the Indianapolis Colts. The Saints weren’t about to be any kind of disappointment to Walters, and he doubled up on his wager, adding $3.5 million on top of it. Now that truly is a Super Bowl Weekend if ever we saw one!
Letting It Ride to a $14 Million Win
Baseball has always been a thrilling sport to watch, but for the man who managed to come out $14 million richer by the end of several games, the thrills were just starting when the LA Dodgers took on the Houston Astros. The individual in question placed his first successful bet on this game back in 2017’s World Series, but then he allowed his bet to ride for the proceeding game.
Things didn’t stop there, though, because he let it ride on and on right up until game six of the series. Doing so allowed him to accumulate a massive win. It was said at the time that the bettor was under 30 years old and based in Eastern Europe. There was speculation taking place that he was going to allow the bet to ride on for another game, but instead, he chose to walk away with $14 million in winnings following that sixth game on November 1 of 2017.
To Finish With…
It’s fairly obvious to say, but you need to have the money in hand if you’re going to place such extreme wagers. Not all of us are capable of placing such bets. But you can see how the sports bets mentioned above can be considered legendary – at least, the winning ones, that is.
It’s important to not get over-zealous when betting, because gambling can, of course, see you lose huge amounts as well as win them. Would you ever take the risk of placing such a massive bet if you had the money? What would you do with the winnings if you were successful? How much could you stand to lose from such extreme measures?
From this most bet-on sports list, you’re certainly not going to be lacking in inspiration for high gambles!
