Key Takeaways
- The greatest sports bettors built fortunes by treating gambling as a data science problem.
- Every elite bettor dominated one niche before expanding their edge into other markets.
- Computer models and statistical algorithms replaced gut instinct, giving bettors a measurable, repeatable advantage over bookmakers.
- Discipline separates winners from losers. Bankroll management, detailed record-keeping, and patience matter more than any single winning bet.
- Legendary bettors exploit market inefficiencies, targeting odds that undervalue true probability before bookmakers or the public corrects the line.
Sports betting has evolved from casual wagers into a high-stakes asset class. For most, it’s a hobby; for sharps, it’s a quantitative grind scaling razor-thin edges into billion-dollar bankrolls
Bettors combined deep analytical thinking, advanced mathematical models, and discipline to beat the market. This article profiles the 15 best sports bettors in history, exploring how they built their fortunes and the strategies they used.
15 Best Sports Bettors in History
| Name | Nationality | Sports Niche | Estimated Net Worth |
| Bill Benter | U.S. | Horse Racing | $1 billion |
| Zejko Ranogajec | Australia | Diversified | $600 million |
| Billy Walters | U.S. | Basketball, the NFL, college football | $200 million |
| Tony Bloom | United Kingdom | Diversified | $1.5 billion |
| Matthew Benham | United Kingdom | Soccer | $300 million |
| Haralabos Voulgaris | Canada | NBA | $7 million |
| Edward Thorp | U.S. | Diversified | $800 million |
| Alan Woods | Australia | Horse racing | $670 million |
| Andrew Black | UK | Diversified | $600 million |
| Bernard Marantelli | Australia | Diversified | $50 million |
| David Warsh | Australia | Horseracing | Unknown |
| Patrick Veitch | UK | Horseracing | Unknown |
| Ben Patz | U.S. | Diversified | Unknown |
| Steve Fezzik | U.S. | NFL | Unknown |
| Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale | U.S. | Diversified | Unknown |
Bill Benter | US | Net Worth: $1 Billion
Bill Benter has largely made more money in sports betting than anyone else in the world. He started his career in Hong Kong with less than $150,000 and made over $1 billion by lusing computer models for horse-racing trading.
According to an online profile, Benter used prediction models such as Monte Carlo methods, Bayesian Inference, and the Kelly Criterion to achieve success, earning nearly $1 billion between 1985 and 2001.
Zejko Ranogajec | Australia | $600 Million
Zejko Ronogajec is an Australian sports bettor who started his career by playing cards in casinos. He then moved into horse racing, focusing on generating rebates.
It is estimated that he made over $600 million in his career, including $7.5 million (though he spent significantly more in wagers) from a single Keno bet at the entertainment complex in New South Wales. Ranogajec left Australia in 2019 and now lives in Europe.
Billy Walters | US | $200 Million
Born in 1946 in Kentucky, Billy Walters grew into a highly successful sports bettor by focusing on algorithms. He learnt these skills by joining the Computer Group – a company that developed algorithms to predict the outcome of football games.
He made his fortune by focusing on smaller college games that attracted little attention from bookmakers. He made between 30 and 50 bets per week and never had a losing year. Walters was later convicted of insider trading and commuted by Donald Trump.
Tony Bloom | UK | $1.5 Billion
Popularly known as The Lizard, he made his fortune through Starlizard, a consulting company that uses algorithms and statistical models to place hundreds of millions of wagers a year.
In addition to placing trades directly, his company also provides data to select clients. Bloom used his fortune to acquire Brighton FC, a club in the English Premier League.
Matthew Benham | UK | $300 Million
Matthew Benham is a Tony Bloom protege who became a highly successful player in sports betting. He started his career as a banker before joining Premier Betting, where Bloom taught him how to develop sports betting algorithms.
After falling out with Bloom, Benham started Smartodds, a company offering statistical reports and sports modeling, which it sells to professional gamblers. He also bought Brentford, a club in the English Premier League.
Haralabos Voulgaris | Canada | $7 Million
Haralabos Voulgaris is a top sports bettor widely regarded as one of the best NBA bettors. Born in Canada, he specialized in exploiting inefficiencies in how bookmakers set lines. For example, Voulgaris identified that bookmakers split projected total points evenly between the first and second half. In reality, most NBA games see more scoring in the second half.
It is alleged that Voulgaris placed $1 million in bets every week, with a high winning rate. His success caught the attention of the Dallas Mavericks, who hired him as a director in 2018.
Edward Thorp | US | $800 million
Edward Thorp is a mathematician who succeeded in sports betting, blackjack, and hedge fund investing, accumulating a wealth of over $800 million.
Thorp’s career took off when he joined MIT as a professor. He started questioning whether mathematics could give a blackjack player an edge.
Over time, he used mathematical concepts to play roulette and sports betting, including on the NBA and American football. He shared his lessons in a book, Beat the Dealer, which has sold over 1,000,000 copies.
Alan Woods | Australia | $670 million
Alan Woods, who died in 2008, was an Australian sports bettor focusing on horse racing and blackjack.
Woods’ success was inspired by Edward Thorp’s book, Beat the Dealer, which explained how to gain an edge against casinos.
He eventually pivoted from blackjack to horse racing and relocated to Hong Kong, where he formed a partnership with Bill Benter. After splitting with Benter, Woods created a new company focused on identifying horses whose public odds were longer than those calculated by software. This strategy made him over $150 million in 16 years.
Andrew Black | UK | $600 Million
Andrew Black is a top player in the sports betting industry who went on to found Betfair, one of the industry’s biggest companies.
Black’s success became evident in 1992 when he won £25,000 after placing a £20 bet in a horse racing game. After achieving substantial success in sports betting, he launched software that received a contract from the UK’s intelligence agency.
He went on to launch Betfair, which went public in 2010 and later merged with Paddy Power.
Bernard Marantelli | Australia | $50 Million
Bernard Marantelli grew up in a family of bookies, with his father and uncles placing multiple bets a day. After working at the derivatives desk at Deutsche Bank, Marantelli left and established himself as a big name in Melbourne’s bookmaking scene.
He used his fortune to start Colossus Bets in 2012. The company introduced the concept of cash out, which enables players to realize value mid-bet. This approach, which he patented, is now used by most companies in the industry. He later sued DraftKings for infringing on his patent.
David Walsh | Australia | Net Worth Unknown
Born in a family of modest means in Tasmania, David Walsh became a highly successful Blackjack and horse racing player. He achieved most of this success because of his partnership with Zejco Ranogajec.
The two focused on developing an intricate betting system, which leveraged identifying inefficiencies in the horse racing industry. His system was so successful that he won nearly $17 million over the Spring Racing Carnival.
Walsh used his fortune to invest in the art industry, founding the Moorilla Museum of Antiquities, which was later renamed the Museum of Old & New Art.
Patrick Veitch | UK | Unknown
Patrick Veitch is a popular professional horse race gambler. It is estimated that he won over £10 million from the industry in eight years, resulting in bans from most bookmakers.
He used intense research and preparation before placing his trades. In most cases, he examined over 60 variables and then used a network of agents to place trades.
His autobiography, Enemy Number One, revealed that he once backed his horse at odds of 100:1 and won £500k.
Ben Patz | US | Unknown
Ben Patz is a sports betting professional who rose to prominence in 2019 after making nearly $2 million in 50 days. His strategy involved betting the moneyline rather than the spread after realizing that teams did not care whether they made a certain number of points. They only cared about winning the game.
Patz later pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce. He was sentenced to 36 months and banned from engaging in gambling and wagering.
Steve Fezzik | US | Unknown
Steve Fezzik is widely considered one of the best sports betting tournament players in the world. He studied probability and statistics and later earned a degree in industrial engineering.
While Fezzik had a professional career, he spent most of his weekends in Las Vegas wagering on football. His popularity soared in 2008 and 2009 when he won the Las Vegas Hilton Supercontest, beating a field of over 300 seasoned gamblers.
He focuses on expected value over outcomes, targeting games where public betting has skewed the line — exploiting the gap between oddsmakers’ numbers and where the public pushes them.
Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale | US | Unknown
Jim McIngvale became a popular figure in the sports betting industry in May 2022 when he placed a $3 million bet on the Houston Astros to win the World Series at 10-1. He eventually won $75 million, which remains the biggest sports betting payout in US history.
Tips for Becoming a Better Sports Bettor
The most successful bettors focus on value, discipline, and data rather than intuition alone.
Focus on Value, Not Just Winners
The goal in sports betting is to focus on where bets are in your favor. For example, a team may be likely to win and still be a bad bet if the line is too short. In this, ask yourself if the probability you assign to the outcome exceeds what the odds imply.
Understand Odds and Probability
Every line has an implied probability baked in. For example, a -110 line implies a 52.4% probability. As such, learning to convert odds to probabilities and back lets you compare your estimate against the market’s estimate and spot gaps. In line with this, also consider the sportsbook’s vig or juice.
Track Betting Data Like an Investor
Serious bettors keep detailed records. Over time, this record-keeping helps you identify patterns that can give you an edge.
Specialize in One Sport
The best bettors are specialists and not generalists. If you focus on a sports league, you will become an expert with a genuine informational edge. For example, it will help you know details like fatigue, injuries, and the weather.
Manage Your Bankroll with Discipline
Even a winning bettor goes on losing streaks. Bankroll management keeps you in the game for many years. Some key details to add are: never bet money you can’t afford to lose, define a unit, and constantly assess your bankroll size.
Closing Thoughts
The greatest sports bettors in history approached gambling as a discipline rooted in mathematics, data, and relentless research.
From Bill Benter’s billion-dollar horse racing algorithms to Steve Fezzik’s mastery of expected value, their success was built on patience, specialization, and an edge over the market.
Whether you’re a casual bettor or aspiring professional, the lessons from these legends are clear — think like an analyst, manage your bankroll wisely, and never mistake a good outcome for a good decision.
