Blog Posted on 12/08/2022 | Author: Karen Macarthur

List of Biggest Bets Ever Won in the History of Gambling

It’s no surprise that millions of people far and wide engage in some form of gambling activity regularly. While some do it as a recreational activity, many are there to try their luck at winning a large amount, if not life-changing.

While life-changing wins don’t occur at an online live casino every other day, history has seen several players who were lucky enough to win that humungous amount. Here we look at the biggest bets in history that have changed the life of gamblers who placed them.

Billy Walters – $3.5 million bet

Billy Walters is widely regarded as one of the most successful bettors in the sports betting community, all thanks to his winning streak that lasted several years. In 2010, the 76-year-old retired professional gambler placed a massive $3.5 million bet on the Super Bowl XLIV game between Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints.

Interestingly New Orleans, the underdogs in that match, won their first-ever Super Bowl with a score of 31-17 that day. While the amount won by Walters on that bet is unknown, it was a huge win considering the bet size.

Vegas Dave – $2.5 million

Vegas Dave, commonly known as Dave Oncea, is another famous personality in online gambling and sports betting. Dave enjoys playing online and mobile casino games and has won several massive payouts over the years.

However, his other wins seem insignificant against his $2.5 million payout, which he received from a $140,000 bet on Kansas City Royals to win World Series. Interestingly, seeing his $200,000 win from a $20,000 bet in that same week, no single casino was willing to take his bet on Kansas City Royals. So, Dave had to split his bet across multiple casinos and sportsbook, and it paid off.

Steven Whietley – $1.9 million

In 2011, Steven Whiteley, a heating engineer, took a bus to travel to a horse track. Then, he used his free ticket to get in, placed a $2 wager and went home with $1.9 million in winnings. Too good to be true. Right?

Defying all odds, Whiteley chose six winning horses and won a massive jackpot. Interestingly, the last horse that the engineer needed to win had lost 28 of its previous races!

Fred Craggs – $1.3 million

Like Steven Whiteley, Fred Craggs won his life-changing amount by betting on a horse race. On a sunny day, a 60-year-old fertiliser salesman wagered 50p on an eight-fold accumulator. Lady luck was by Craggs’ side as all eight of his horses won their races, despite the odds being 2,000,000/1.

An interesting thing about this massive win is that Fred didn’t even know about it until he went to his local bookmarker to place another bet. Had Fred chosen the no-limit option, he would have gotten an additional $500,000 in winnings. But $1.3 million is still quite a large prize.

James Adducci – $1.2 million

It’s widely known that Tiger Woods is one of the best golfers of our time, which is why James Adducci made the bold move to wager $85,000 on Woods to win the 2019 golf championship. James’ risk paid off as he took home over $1.2 million in winnings with him. Interestingly, this was the first-ever sports wager placed by James Adducci.

Mike Futter – $ 0.9 million

This one is quite interesting. Mike Futter, a Belfast-based gambler, won over $1 million by betting on his horse. Futter, who owns 11 bingo halls and some online casinos having games like online Blackjack and online Roulette, placed a wager on his horse named Monty’s Pass. He was awarded $500,000 for his bet and received an additional payout of $400,000 for being the horse’s owner.

The bottom line

Time and again, history has reminded us that you never know what moment will bring you that life-changing amount when enjoying sports betting or playing mobile casino games. While some gamblers on our list were seasoned bettors with years of betting experience, others were pretty novices to win that huge amount. With time, we’ll see more and more players breaking these records and adding their names to this list.