1% Wagers
WHEN FLOYD Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao left the ring last Saturday night, there was more than one winner. Leading up to the Fight of the Century, Las Vegas estimated that $50 million to $80 million would be wagered on the bout—and that was just in their sportsbooks. Elsewhere, deep-pocketed celebrities had their own action, including Mark Wahlberg and Diddy, who each put up $250,000 in a head-to-head bet on the fight. (Wahlberg took Pacquiao; Diddy had Mayweather.) It was hardly the first time that a boldfaced name has laid an outrageous sum on the line.
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Who | 50 CENT | CHARLES BARKLEY | FLOYD MAYWEATHER | PHIL MICKELSON | RICK ROSS | WES WELKER |
Event | 2012 NFC championship | Super Bowl XXXVI | Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Eastern Conference finals | Super Bowl XXXV | 2011 WBO welterweight title fight (Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley) | 2014 Kentucky Derby |
Bet | $500,000 on his 2.5-point-underdog Giants over the 49ers | $550,000 on the 14-point-underdog Patriots over the Rams | $5.9 million on the Heat over the Pacers | $20,000 preseason bet on the Ravens at 28-to-1 odds | $1 million on Pacquiao | A 37--1 exacta on California Chrome and Commanding Curve |
Profit | $500,000 | $550,000 | $5.9 million | $560,000 | $1 million | $57,193.90 |
Note | He doubled down and put $1 million on Eli & Co. to beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. The Giants won 21--17. | Barkley claims to have lost more than $10 million gambling. | Mayweather bet another $5 million on Miami to win the NBA Finals and collected again. | He put the same amount on the D-Backs to win the World Series in '01 at 38 to 1 and won that too. | Pacquiao made $20 million that night. | Churchill Downs later said he'd been overpaid $14,000, but Welker got to keep the money. |
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TAYLOR HILL/FILMMAGIC/GETTY IMAGES (50 CENT)
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TOM BRIGLIA/GETTY IMAGES (BARKLEY)
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ARAYA DIAZ/GETTY IMAGES (MAYWEATHER)
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ROBERT BECK FOR SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (MICKELSON, WELKER)
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PARAS GRIFFIN/FILMMAGIC/GETTY IMAGES (ROSS)