For the first time since 2005 and for the fifth time in his historic career, Tiger Woods once again sits atop the Augusta National throne. Big Cat emerged victorious on Sunday at the Masters, sending the entire sports world into a frenzy -- and come Monday, one smart bettor will be laughing all the way to the bank as a result of the victory.
On Tuesday, a Nevada resident placed an $85,000 bet on Woods to win the 2019 Masters at 14-1 odds. So with the win, the outrageously large bet yielded a payout of $1.19 million, the largest single-ticket payout in the history of William Hill casino history (in the United States). Naturally, the casino was a bit displeased with the result, as Willam Hill U.S. director of trading Nick Bogdanovich made obvious in a release following the Masters on Sunday.
"It's great to see Tiger back," Bogdanovich said. "It's a painful day for William Hill -- our biggest loss ever -- but a great day for golf."
The bet shattered the old records in the $10,000 to $25,000 range, to the point that William Hill had to confirm it could even accept the wager. The Masters is always a hotbed for betting, but this wager was so gigantic that it single-handedly pushed Woods up to 10-1 at William Hill while his odds stayed at 14-1 on other books last week, according to Golf Digest.
"I thought it was probably an $85 or $8,500 bet," said Bogdanovich at the time. "But they were for real."
They were indeed for real, and because of the hefty risk that was taken, someone holds a ticket that makes them more than $1 million richer thanks to Woods announcing to the world that he's not going anywhere on Sunday.
