The Biggest Sports Bets of All-Time

Posted by Harry Kane on Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Sports betting represents big business in the UK and across the globe, from the overwhelming majority of casual gamblers to those who back their instincts with serious stakes and cash commitments. Both types of gamblers can bank big returns on their sports wagers, while sports stars like Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather have also banked huge amounts from betting.

Incredibly, Mayweather once won a cool $4.7 million in a single month when betting on the NFL, and we could have created an entire article on Money’s wagering exploits alone! In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest and most profitable bets on sports in history, while appraising their precise returns and the amounts staked in the first place.

#1. James Adduci – Banked $1.2 Million on a Single $85,000 Bet

Wisconsin local James Adduci earned a considerable amount of money throughout his career as a gambler, enabling him to gradually increase his stakes across both sports bets and a host of popular casino verticals. At the age of 39, Adduci placed his most successful and lucrative bet, when he staked $85,000 on the legendary Tiger Woods to win the 2019 Masters tournament.

To provide some context, Woods had gone 11 years without a major title, suffering a slew of injuries and highly publicised personal problems during this time. Incredibly, the then 14-time major winner had also undergone his fourth back surgery in the spring of 2017, causing him to spend six months off the tour and many to suggest that is career was coming to an end.

While he returned in 2018 and achieved some minor success ahead of the 2019 Masters, nobody expected him to claim a fifth Green Jacket and 15th major honour, especially at the grand old age of 43. All apart from Adducci, of course, who placed his brave stake ahead of time and waited for the cash to roll in!

Ultimately, Woods rolled back the years and managed to hold his nerve to win by a single stroke from three runners-up, defying logic and his starting odds of around 14/1 to prevail. As a result, Adducci banked a cool $1.2 million (or about £760,000), breaking William Hill’s record for the single biggest payout on a futures’ bet of all-time. This is also one of the biggest sports betting wins of all-time, and one that few will be lucky enough to top during their lifetime.

#2. Mick Gibbs –Banked £500,000 on a Single £0.30 Bet

Brit Mick Gibbs wasn’t a seasoned or professional gambler, but just an earnest and hard-working roofer who managed to carve out a well-earned living like the rest of us! In 1999, however, Gibbs created a £2.50, nine-fold accumulator bet, which sought to forecast the results of nine European football matches at combined and multiplied odds.

Of course, each selection had to come in for the wager to be successful, and Gibbs was probably as surprised as anyone when his acca bet won and he banked a cool £157,000 on his meagre stake. Just two years later in 2001, however, Gibbs managed to top this incredible feat by banking an even bigger win on a much smaller stake!

This time, the knowledgeable roofer created a 15-leg accumulator bet, which included the 2000/01 Champions League final and featured astounding odds of 1,666,666/1 to come in. Because of this, Gibbs reduced his stake to just £0.30, and watched on as his first 14 selections came good and put him on the precipice of a huge win.

Following a tense UCL final that twisted this way and that and ultimately went to penalties, Bayern keeper Oliver Khan saved a decisive spot kick from Mauricio Pellegrino to ensure that Gibbs’ acca bet was fully vindicated. Subsequently, Gibbs won a cool £500,000 on his £0.30 stake, meaning that two bets with a combined value of £2.80 had earned the roofer a staggering £657,000 in barely two years!

#3. Anonymous Punter – Banked £200,000 on a Single £100 Bet

When Leicester City lost 4-3 at Spurs in an agonising contest on March 21st 2015, the Foxes remained rooted to the EPL table and seven points from safety. However, the team subsequently rallied to win seven of their last nine matches and retain their Premier League status, laying the foundation for one of the biggest sporting stories in history.

Under the stewardship of new manager Claudio Ranieri, Leicester still started the following season among the favourites to be relegated, while being priced at a staggering 5000/1 to win the Premier League title.

Undeterred, one anonymous punter placed an ambitious bet of £100 on the Foxes to win, at slightly improved odds of 2,000/1. This proved to be an inspired wager, as Leicester’s direct counter-attacking style and the form of attacking duo Jamie Vardy and winger Rhiad Mahrez saw the team soar to the top of the league in January and remain there until the end of the season.

When the Foxes stunned Manchester City 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium in February 2016 to move five points clear at the top, the prospect of them winning the league suddenly gained the credence and they went on to win the league by an impressive 10-point margin. This won our anonymous bettor an impressive £200,000 payout, while completing one of the most incredible and unlikely sporting fairy tales of all-time!

#4. Phil Mickelson – Banked $560,000 on a Single $20,000 Bet

We’ll close with golfing legend Phil Mickelson, who like Floyd Mayweather loves nothing more than staking his hard-earned cash on sports wagers (and particularly NFL bets). The six-time major winner certainly had high hopes for the Baltimore Ravens at the Super Bowl, even prior to the 2000 NFL season.

After watching the Ravens’ 6-2 triumph during the previous campaign, Mickelson formed and led a betting syndicate that staked $20,000 on Baltimore winning the 2000 Super Bowl at expansive odds of 22/1.

The Ravens subsequently beat the New York Giants in Tampa Bay, Florida in the world’s biggest sporting events, earning the syndicate a cool $560,000 (£426,000) winner’s cheque in the process. What sets this wager apart is that it managed to generate such an inflated return without the use of an accumulator, thanks largely to the huge stake and the outright odds of Baltimore winning the Super Bowl at the beginning of the 2000 season.