REPORT: Phil Mickelson Wagered $1 Billion, Suffered Nearly $100 Million in Gambling Losses

A new book by gambler Billy Walters claims that golf great Phil Mickelson lost nearly $100 million gambling in bets totaling more than $1 billion over a thirty-year period.

In an article published by Golf Digest, Walters, who was convicted of insider trading in 2017 and spent five years in prison, details a gambling cooperative that he ran with Mickelson between 2010 and 2014 in which he says Mickelson spent millions and lost millions on football, baseball, basketball, and other sports, both pro and college.

Walters also alleges that Mickelson wanted to place a stealth bet on a pro golf match in which he himself was playing.

Phil Mickelson of the United States tees off on the 3rd hole during Day Two of The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 21, 2023, in Hoylake, England. (Richard Heathcote/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

Walters says that Mickelson’s gambling was so severe that his total number of bets for 2011 totaled up to 3,154 for the year, an average of nine bets a day.

But on June 22 of that same year, Walters alleges that Mickelson went all out and placed a whopping 43 bets causing a loss of $143,500.

Walter also says that between 2010 and 2014, Mickelson had placed 7,065 bets on pro football, basketball, and baseball games.

In all, Mickelson reportedly bet more than $1 billion and lost more than $100 million in the process.

The one bet that Walters was most disturbed by was Mickelson’s reported attempt to bet on a golf match in which he was playing.

In late September 2012, Phil called me from Medinah Country Club just outside Chicago, site of the 39th Ryder Cup matches between the United States and Europe. He was feeling supremely confident that the American squad led by Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, and Phil himself was about to reclaim the Cup from the Euros. He was so confident that he asked me to place a $400,000 wager for him on the U.S. team to win.

I could not believe what I was hearing.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” I told him. “Don’t you remember what happened to Pete Rose?” The former Cincinnati Reds manager was banned from baseball for betting on his own team. “You’re seen as a modern-day Arnold Palmer,” I added. “You’d risk all that for this? I want no part of it.’’

Walters added that he does not know if Mickelson placed that bet anyway with someone else but added that he hopes Mickelson came to his senses and realized it was an unethical idea. Especially considering that he lost that match and would have lost the bet.

The information is shocking, to say the least. However, it must also be pointed out that Walters holds a grudge against Mickelson because he feels that the pro golfer did not step up to help him by divulging key information during his trial and conviction for insider trading. Walters says Mickelson refused to bring his information to the court, resulting in a guilty verdict.

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