5 Crazy Sports Bets That Worked
by Jake Brown (@JBSportsRadio)
Former New York Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez once uttered the phrase, "I'd rather be lucky than good." Well, in the case of some crazy wagers, that truly is the case. Many people like to bet a couple of bucks here and there, but some people like to put either an insane amount of money or a ridiculous situation to the test, and rarely it turns into a life-changing amount of money. Here are some perfect examples of crazy sports bets that worked.
1. Rory McIlroy's dad cashes out after son wins the British Open
Gerry McIlroy had plenty of confidence in his son Sunday, but maybe had even more when he was just 15 years old. Rory's dad bet 200-pounds ($341) at 500/1 odds placed in 2004 for Rory to win the British Open within 10 years. Well, Sunday he did win just in time. The bet will pay out Mr. McIlroy a handsome sum of $171,000. That wasn't all though. Two of Gerry's friends placed bets for 200 pounds at 250/1 odds for Rory to win the British Open by 2015 and 200 pounds at 150/1 for him to win the British Open before age 50. Those bets will pay a combined $136,700. It's safe to say there was quite the celebration in the McIlroy household over the weekend.
2. $5 turns into $725K thanks to replacement refs
The whole world had complaints on the horrid job done by replacement refs in 2012. There were enough missed calls for an entire season in the month they were on the field. There was one man who could only thank them for changing his life. A Canadian man, Gino DiFelice, won $725,000 on a $5 wager when the Seahawks won on that famous final play that looked to have been intercepted in the end zone. It was called a touchdown, and DiFelice was rich. He got all 15 NFL picks right and a Packers win would have resulted in him splitting winnings with five other people. Funny thing is that his 12-year-old daughter consulted him on the picks. Guess that's how the cookie crumbles.
3. Bettor wins $50K in 2012 then wins $25K in 2014 on same play in Super Bowl
Having a safety occur as the first score of a game, let alone in a Super Bowl, is rare. Having a safety occur as the first score of two Super Bowls seems near impossible. What about the same guy betting on that to happen on both occasions? A real estate owner in New York named Jona Rechnitz bet $500 in this year's Super Bowl that the first play of the game would be a safety. Well, it was, and he won $25,000 on the 50/1 odds. This came after he bet $1,000 back in 2012 that the first score would be a safety. When the Giants scored on a safety on the Patriots first possession, that netted him $50,000. $1,500 risked, and $75,000 won. That's a good two days at the office.
4. Floyd Mayweather bets... on everything
Floyd Mayweather isn't afraid to risk a couple of bucks... or a couple million bucks. That's just chump change for the highest-paid athlete in all of sports. "Money" Mayweather nets more than $100 million a year, so a couple of high-priced bets shouldn't hurt. The fighter has made a countless number of bets, and he usually will tweet out the winning ones. Nothing is heard of the losing ones. One of Mayweather's biggest bets and maybe the biggest of them all was when he bet $5.9 million on the Heat to beat the Pacers in Game 7 in 2013. He only won $600,000 on the near-$6 million wager. There's no doubt that Mayweather is the most confident man on the planet.
5. Someone wins $46K on $20 bet on Germany to win 7-1
Is it even possible to bet on seven goals in a soccer match? Apparently so. Someone bet a measly $20 that Germany would pound Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup and that Sami Khedira would score a goal. Those odds were 2,319 to 1. In the words of Jack Buck, "go crazy folks!" The bettor won an absurd $46,000 off the $20 bet thanks to the improbable result. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we could put 20 bucks on the line to take home 46 grand? We can only imagine...
