Billy Walters grew up a poor rural Kentuckian but wound up becoming one of America’s most successful gamblers, especially in the sports betting world. Walters achieved such fortune and success as a sports gambler that he eventually partnered up with renown pro golfer Phil Mickelson, who used Walters to help make his own bets, often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Phil had accounts as large as anyone I’d seen,” Walters wrote of Mickelson’s betting portfolio in an excerpt from his upcoming autobiography. “You don’t get those types of accounts without betting millions of dollars.”
Walters also noted that “Phil liked to gamble as much as anyone I’ve ever met” — and he’s met quite a few big shots in the gambling world. However, it was a certain bet Mickelson wanted to make on himself that really alarmed Walters when the two were still partners roughly a decade ago.
“In late September 2012, Phil called me from Medinah Country Club just outside Chicago, site of the 39th Ryder Cup matches between the United States and Europe. He was feeling supremely confident that the American squad led by Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, and Phil himself was about to reclaim the Cup from the Euros. He was so confident that he asked me to place a $400,000 wager for him on the U.S. team to win.”
Walters could hardly believe his ears.
“Have you lost your (freaking) mind?” he retorted to Mickelson after that suggestion “Don’t you remember what happened to Pete Rose?” — the former Cincinnati Reds star who was banned from baseball for betting on his own team. “You’re seen as a modern-day Arnold Palmer. You’d risk all that for this? I want no part of it.”
Walters added that he didn’t know if Mickelson placed the bet through anyone else, but he sure hopes not.
“I have no idea whether Phil placed the bet elsewhere. Hopefully, he came to his senses, especially considering the ‘Miracle at Medinah.’ Trailing 10-6 going into the final day of singles matches, the Europeans pulled off the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history. They won eight matches and tied one to beat the Americans by a single point, 14½ to 13½. Phil’s loss to Justin Rose that Sunday contributed to the stunning defeat.”
After that story, Billy Walters provided a few other crazy notes from his time as Mickelson’s partner, including a day that included more than 40 bets on baseball games. “On one day in 2011 (June 22), he made forty-three bets on major-league baseball games, resulting in $143,500 in losses,” says Walters, adding: “In 2011 alone, he made 3,154 bets — an average of nearly nine per day.”
Lastly, Walters provided this snapshot of Mickelson’s gambling career:
“Based on our relationship and what I’ve since learned from others, Phil’s gambling losses approached not $40 million as has been previously reported, but much closer to $100 million. In all, he wagered a total of more than $1 billion during the past three decades.”
Phil Mickelson certainly has plenty of money, but woof, that’s quite a bit of cash down the drain if Walters is correct.
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