Top Five Biggest Bets in Sport Betting History
Number 5 biggest bet
During an FA Cup game between Liverpool and Luton Town in 2006, a game in 2006, Liverpool was leading in the final minutes so Luton risked everything to level the game, including sending their goalkeeper deep into the opposition half. With the keeper far from his post, Xabi Alonso took the ball for Liverpool in his own half and saw the open goal at the other end of the field, hitting the target comfortably. The Reds were ecstatic, but no one was happier than Adrian Hayward. The previous year he had a dream that Xabi Alonso would score from his own half, so walked into a bookmaker and placed £200 on it. They gave him odds of 125 on it happening sometime before the end of the season and assumed they would never hear from him again about the bet. The goal earned him £25,000.
Number 4 biggest bets
Nick Newlife didn’t bet on Roger Federer to win his first Wimbledon title in 2003, but he was keen not to miss out in future. He was given odds of 66 on Federer winning six more titles by 2019. He placed £1,520, which resulted in a payout of £101,840 when Federer defeated Andy Murray in 2012. Unfortunately, Newlife never saw his prediction come true as he passed away three years earlier. However, he left the sports betting slip in his will to the charity Oxfam who collected the winnings instead.
Number 3 biggest bets
Gerry McIlroy’s 15-year-old son Rory was a budding golfer so Gerry bets £200 that he would win the British Open within ten years. He was given odds of 500 to 1 on the unusual bet and some of his friends were so impressed by his confidence that they placed bets too. Rory McIlroy won the British Open in 2014 and the bookmaker confirmed in a tweet that they would be paying out £100,000 to his father and further £80,000 to his friends.
Number 2 biggest bets
A Greek-Canadian named Haralabos “Bob” Voulgaris had just $70,000 USD in the year 2000. Then, just 25, he placed his entire life savings on the Los Angeles Lakers to win that season’s NBA championship, despite having a horror show of a season the year earlier. After a six month wait, the Lakers duly won and Bob collected his first half a million dollars.
Number 1 biggest bet
In 2001, Mick Gibbs, a roofer from Staffordshire, England bet 30 pence on an insane accumulator bet. It was a 15 fold bet and he had to predict 15 European football matches. His odds? 1,666,666-1. The final game of his mega-bet came down to a Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Valencia. The game went to penalties and Bayern won the trophy. Gibbs went on to win close to $784,000 USD from bookmaker.
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