Sports are delicately intertwined into the fabric of the United States. Many Americans decompress in front of the TV after a stressful workday, watching their favorite team compete.
The athletes competing are household names and are rewarded with fortunes for their years of hard work and fierce determination.
Another career in the sports field is gaining traction, and that is the often-misunderstood life of a professional sports bettor.
In this post, I’m going to introduce you to five of the most prolific sports bettors in history.
1 – “Tony the Lizard”
Many of you have likely dreamed of making a fortune through gambling. You’ve probably spent hours imagining how you’ll spend your time and money after striking it rich.
For most sports fans, owning their own team is the pinnacle of their sports desires. Anthony Bloom made that dream a reality.
“Tony the Lizard” started out in the world of cards, winning millions in poker tournaments. He then set his sights on real money sports betting.
Bloom’s primary focus was soccer. He established a company that’s sole function was to make money by betting on sports. Little is known about the secretive company due to their strict non-disclosure agreement.
However, there’s speculation that the company has won north of $1 billion. Bloom has invested over $250 million in his favorite soccer club Brighton and Hove Albion, which he currently owns.
There’s no telling how high Tony the Lizard is worth today, but many consider him the richest sports bettor in the world.
2 – Billy Walters
On the list of most prolific sports bettors in history, Billy Walters is a mammoth among whales. Walters carries the designation of having bet more money successfully than anybody in the history of gambling.
You probably associate such a fantastic accomplishment with someone dressed to the nines spending hours on the casino floor. You’d be wrong. Walters never enjoyed the high-roller casino scene.
In fact, rumor has it that Billy never placed bets of his own. Instead, he opted for runners to place his bets so he could gamble without being bothered by interrupting his lavish lifestyle.
Of course, the Vegas casinos weren’t exactly excited about doing business with him anyway. After all, who wants to give money away? Not the casinos. And Walters always won. Not every bet, but over the long term, he never lost.
This separation from the emotional aspect of gambling freed Billy to focus on his data analysis. The implementation of Walter’s computer modeling was a huge key to his success.
Walters has not stuck strictly to sports betting to amass his fortune. Over the past four decades, he has bet on the stock market, real estate, and probably anything elsewhere there is a profit to be made. Of course, it has to be legal as well.
Is Billy Walters the luckiest man alive? Maybe.
However, Billy’s incredible success and the empire he has built were the culmination of calculated risks and an astonishing amount of hard work. You also aren’t likely to gain that kind of wealth without being intelligent.
Walters’ net worth is over $200 million. Walters is another prolific sports bettor that landed behind bars. In 2017, Billy was hit with a five-year prison sentence and a $10 million fine due to his involvement in insider trading.
Walters was released from prison earlier this year after serving over half of his sentence.
3 – Parlay Patz
You may think Parlay Patz is the name bestowed to some frat brother at Arizona State University, the guy that is always on the brink of hitting that 15-game parlay.
For Benjamin Patz, a.k.a. “Parlay Patz,” who burst onto the sports betting scene as a college-aged kid, it was nearly the case.
In 2015, at the tender age of 18, Patz signed up with his first online sportsbook. He quickly hit a handful of massive parlay bets, earning him the moniker of Parlay Patz. In a few short months, Patz earned almost a cool million bucks from his efforts. That’s not too bad for a kid fresh out of high school.
Patz appeared to be living a charmed life. He had earned millions pursuing his dreams of becoming a legend in the sports betting game.
In 2020, like many other things, his story began to get strange. Federal authorities charged Benjamin Patz for apparently threatening athletes and their families with death threats online.
According to FBI reports, Patz made over 300 of these online threats to college and professional athletes. That’s not only reckless, it’s deplorable. And it’s criminal.
When transcripts of the threats were released, it became undeniable that the allegations were true. Patz made several disturbing threats via social media after a string of losses caused a significant dent in Patz’s bankroll.
The case is ongoing. Because Patz did surrender to law enforcement, there is speculation that the courts may have some leniency on Parlay Patz.
In only a few years as a professional sports bettor, he has experienced a roller coaster that few ever will. His meteoric rise and just as spectacular fall from grace land young Benjamin “Parlay” Patz at number 3 on this list of most prolific sports bettors.
4 – Haralabos Voulgaris
Most of his acquaintances just call him “Bob,” and over 20 years ago, he was primarily recognized as the most exceptional NBA bettor in history.
Voulgaris was only 25 when he started laying millions of dollars on NBA action, millions per day, more specifically. Voulgaris didn’t have a crystal ball to predict games. In a league that is historically difficult to accurately predict, Voulgaris was able to spot and exploit weaknesses in the sportsbook.
“Bob” Saw the Unlimited Potential for Big Money at Halftime
He understood that bookmakers failed to make any effort in setting the odds for the second half. The fatal flaw for the sportsbooks was not accounting for the burst of scoring that typically occurs late in the game. So, when setting lines, they would simply cut the final total in half.
Voulgaris would pounce on their mistake and bet the under. And by “pounce,” I mean, he was gambling in the tens of millions of dollars. Eventually, the sportsbooks caught on to his master scheme and wholly overhauled how they operated, effectively closing the door on Voulgaris’ system for winning on the hardwood.
When the door closed on NBA betting, Voulgaris simply made the transition to poker. Bob has translated his ability to read people into millions at the poker table.
Despite having the most sinister sounding name on the list, Haralabos has managed to live a reasonably healthy life free of legal issues and jail time.
5 – Jon Price
Rounding off our list is a name synonymous with sports betting. Jon Price has an enormous knowledge of mathematics and statistics that he received while attending the prestigious New York University.
Price leveraged this exceptional understanding of all things related to math and numbers in developing an incredible sports betting business. Jon Price has never revealed his secret formula to winning, at least not publicly. However, he has made mention of the 22 variables that determine what makes a good bet.
Unfortunately, the tight-lipped gambler won’t reveal what any of those variables are. Jon Price stands apart from other successful sports bettors in his “do or die” stance on value betting. This approach to value betting is overlooked by not only amateurs but pro sports bettors as well. If you’re an amateur sports bettor that’s struggling to get even, go learn value betting practices and implement them immediately.
Price all but ignores his winning percentages, choosing instead to focus only on the dollars and cents. One big win could quickly bring you more cash than five losses cost you even though your emotions will largely ignore that fact.
Don’t misinterpret this as Jon Price not being great at picking winners. He famously “predicted” the Kansas City Royals winning the 2015 World Series, and he bet $1 million on the New England Patriots win in Super Bowl XLIX. Jon Price is undoubtedly a fantastic choice for any aspiring sports bettor in search of a role model.
Conclusion
These five prolific sports bettors have made their mark on history. Amateur sports bettors dream of someday being amongst the ranks achieved by these men.
You may never make millions gambling on NBA futures or own your favorite sports team like some of these sports bettors. And that’s fine.
For many, sports betting and gambling are nothing more than a hobby. Just remember that it’s supposed to be fun, and never gamble above your means.
Michael Stevens
Michael Stevens has been researching and writing topics involving the gambling industry for well over a decade now and is considered an expert on all things casino and sports betting. Michael has been writing for GamblingSites.org since early 2016. …
