COMEBACK DAD
Bettor wins $1.2M on Woods wager
Tiger Woods donning the green jacket Sunday resulted in serious green for a couple of Las Vegas bettors.
A bettor won nearly $1.2 million when Woods broke his 11-year majors drought with his fifth career win in the Masters. The person placed an $85,000 bet on Woods to win his 15th major at the William Hill location inside SLS Las Vegas when the odds were 14-1 on April 9.
Somebody won $130,000 from a Woods bet placed at Westgate Las Vegas’ sportsbook, according to manager Ed Salmons. Westgate also paid another $75,000 on another futures bet.
The payout at William Hill was the largest since the sportsbook paid out more than $4.5 million over three bets on the Eagles at Super Bowl LII in February 2018. It also was the largest payout on a non-Super Bowl bet by William Hill, which operates more than 100 sportsbooks in Nevada and New Jersey.
Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill U.S., told USA TODAY that Woods’ win resulted in a loss of “seven figures” for the sportsbook.
“We got our tails kicked,” Bogdanovich said. “That’s just business. A guy drops money on the counter, we accept the wager, we pay and then we move on. Does it sting? Sure it stings, but it’s just part of the business. Tiger is Tiger. He’s the greatest golfer I’ve ever seen. Hopefully we will get some new golf bettors out of it.”
Jay Kornegay, VP of race and sports operations at Westgate, said his sportsbook’s Masters loss was close to “six figures.” “Despite our loss, I was rooting for Tiger,” Kornegay said. “It was just great to see.”
The names of the bettors were not released.
The money bet on Woods accounted for 19% of all Masters bets at William Hill, according to Bogdanovich.
Westgate released its odds for May’s PGA Championship as well as next year’s Masters on Sunday afternoon, and Woods is favored to win both at 8-1.
“There’s so much competition out there,” Bogdanovich said. “Even though Tiger is playing well and he draws the most money, he still has to beat a ‘who’s who’ of golfers out there.”