2016’s top 10 sporting upsets and their crazy odds
OH, the joy of hindsight. Here are 2016’s top 10 sporting upsets which could have made you the richest person alive.
WHAT a year it’s been.
Nobody could predict the sheer amount of underdogs who came out on top in 2016, except maybe the handful of lucky punters who threw their support behind them and won astronomical amounts.
From the Cronulla Sharks’ first premiership to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ upset win over the Golden State Warriors in Game Seven of the NBA Finals, 2016 has delivered a gallery of iconic moments that will go down in the history of sport.
Even more astonishing is the amount someone could have won if they put a single dollar on the top ten upsets of the year in a multi-bet. TAB calculated the hypothetical punter’s winnings to be $1,820,594,879,877,725,523. That’s $1.8 quintillion (a million trillion).
If only we had Back to the Future’s time-travelling DeLorean to take us back 12 months. Here’s TAB’s list of 2016’s top 10 underdogs:
10. Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA title
The Cavs took home a thrilling win over Andrew Bogut’s Golden State Warriors in June to sneak their way to number 10 on this list. Cleveland were at $11 odds on TAB.com when they were down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
LeBron James was Cleveland’s hero, stunning the world by being only the third player to record a triple-double in a Game Seven. “I’ve never seen a man in my life tell an entire state: ‘Get on my back, I got you. I don’t care if we fail, I’m going to wake up the next morning and I’m going to start working out and prepare for the next year’,” teammate Richard Jefferson said.
“He was like, ‘I’m going to come back home because I promised them that I would do something.’ And he carried us the whole way.”
9. Singapore’s Joseph Schooling defeats Michael Phelps in the Olympic 100m butterfly final
It’s every kid’s dream to play with their hero, let alone beat them. Singapore’s Joseph Schooling took home gold in the 100m butterfly against swimming immortal Michael Phelps to cause one of the year’s greatest upsets.
To top it off, Schooling had a photo taken with Phelps after the race, doting on his childhood hero after beating him on the world stage. $420 was bet on the 21-year-old at $13 odds — not a bad payday.
8. Cronulla Sharks win the NRL premiership
The Sharks completed their stunning 2016 in the best way possible with a thrilling win over Melbourne Storm. Cronulla clocked up a 15-game winning streak earlier in the season, but fans were on the edge of their seats up until the final second.
It was looking smooth for the Cronulla unit until the defiant Melbourne Storm pulled out a potentially season-wrecking play which almost saw them steal the premiership.
After a wild 20 seconds in the 89th minute, fans were reasurred and the Sutherland Shire erupted in a weekend of madness.
Some diehard Sharks supporters were confident at their side claiming their first-ever flag — $10,557 was placed on the side at $17 odds before the season began.
7. Angelique Kerber wins the Australian Open
Angelique Kerber was responsible for a huge payout for a number of punters after defeating the immortal Serena Williams at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. Kerber defeated the world number one 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in one of the greatest upsets of the year, and boy did it line the pockets of a few faithful fans. Only $412 was bet on the German 28-year-old to win the tournament when odds were $41 on TAB.com.
6. Will Davison and Jonathon Webb win the Bathurst 1000
With 161 laps and 1000 kilometres to race, Bathurst always brings about waves of controversy, but nobody was expecting this. Tekno Autosports’ Will Davison and Jonathon Webb capitalised on a 15-second penalty delivered to Holden’s Jamie Whincup which saw him drop back to 11th place. Davison’s win at Mount Panorama was his second of his career. $103 was spent on the Tekno Autosports duo before the race at huge $67 odds on TAB.
5. Chloe Esposito wins Olympic gold in the modern pentathlon
You’d be excused if you weren’t up to speed with the rigours of the modern pentathlon before the Rio Olympics, but Australia’s Chloe Esposito made us all fans for at least a fortnight. The 25-year-old from Camden, NSW, defied the competition with a cracking performance to take home gold for Australia and set a new Olympic record of 1372 points. Only $6 was bet on the Aussie underdog at odds of $67. That lucky punter will now have bragging rights for the rest of his life.
4. Western Bulldogs win the AFL Grand Final
The Western Bulldogs pulled off a fairytale victory against the Sydney Swans to claim their first premiership since 1954. They flattened the Sydney visitors with a 89-67 win — but it wasn’t the perfect ending for everyone in the Dogs’ camp. Captain Bob Murphy had to sit out the Grand Final blockbuster with a devastating knee injury sustained early in the season. Stand-in captain Easton Wood led the Bulldogs to their defiant victory which saw them rocket through the finals before raising the cup.
$4,465 was bet on the Bulldogs on TAB.com at $67 odds before the elimination final stage.
3. Danny Willett wins the US Masters
Danny Willett comes in at number three after shocking the golfing world at the US Masters. Bets totalling $338 were placed on the Englishman to take home the title at crazy odds of $151 before the first tee. Willett finished at five under par to shut-out American Jordan Spieth. He is only the second Englishman in the history of golf to achieve the title and the first European this century to come out on top at Augusta National.
2. Las queti Spirit wins the Crown Oaks
Racing is the sport where everyone from your sister to your grandmother puts a bet on in the hope of picking an obscure winner to brag about. In the case of the 2016 Crown Oaks, only $97 was placed on Lasqueti Spirit, who was paying an outlandish $201 to win.
1. Leicester City wins the 2015-16 EPL Championship
Leicester City shocked the world with what was described as the “biggest sporting shock of a lifetime” to take home the English Premier League after almost being relegated out of it.
Former Leicester striker Gary Lineker was overwhelmed with his club’s achievement. “I can’t think of anything that surpasses it in sporting history. It is difficult to put over in words,” he told the BBC. “I got emotional. It was hard to breathe. I was a season-ticket holder from the age of seven. This is actually impossible.”
One faithful punter won $54,000 from a $20 bet, which was over half of the total amount ($38) placed on the English underdogs. Leicester opened the season with astronomical odds of $2001 to win the premiership, an amount so high you’d be tempted to put a dollar on out of pure excitement at the returns. Evidently, some punters thought the same thing and are now rolling in their rewards as a result.
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