Phil Mickelson has wagered more than $1 billion over the last three decades and wanted to place a $400,000 bet on the 2012 Ryder Cup while playing for Team USA, according to a much-anticipated book by renowned gambler Billy Walters.
The stunning betting estimates Walters provides — from his own detailed record from what he describes as two reliable sources — are detailed in an excerpt of Walters’ book, “Gambler: Secrets from a Life of Risk.”
It is schedule to be available Aug. 22. The FirePit Collective obtained an except of the book. Mickelson’s management group did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Walters is widely regarded as America’s most famous gambler who claims to have a winning streak of more than 30 straight years.
He said he ended his betting partnership with Mickelson in 2014. Two years later, Mickelson was a relief defendant in Walters’ insider trading case. Mickelson was never charged and had to repay about $1 million he made off a stock deal. Walters was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. He said he could have avoided prison if Mickelson had told a “simple truth.”
Walters said he never told Mickelson he had inside information on Dean Foods stock.
“All Phil had to do was publicly say it. He refused,” Walters wrote. “The outcome cost me my freedom, tens of millions of dollars and a heartbreak I still struggle with daily. While I was in prison, my daughter committed suicide — I still believe I could have saved her if I’d been on the outside.”
Walters said Mickelson told him he had two offshore accounts, and that Mickelson had limits of $400,000 on college games and $400,000 on the NFL.
He said based on his detailed record and additional records provided by sources, Mickelson’s gambling between 2010 and 2014 included:
Betting $110,000 to win $100,000 on 1,115 occasions, and betting $220,000 to win $200,000 on 858 occasions. That alone comes out to just over $311 million.
Mickelson in 2011 made 3,154 bets for the year and on one day (June 22) he placed 43 bets on Major League Baseball games that resulted in $143,500 in losses.
He placed 7,065 bets on football, basketball and baseball.
“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,” Walters wrote.
“The only other person I know who surpassed that kind of volume is me.”
