New book says Mickelson lost over $1 billion in sports bets

Phil Mickelson has wagered more than $1 billion over the last three decades and wanted to place a $400,000 bet on the 2012 Ryder Cup while playing for Team USA, according to a much-anticipated book by renowned gambler Billy Walters.

Mickelson denied ever betting on the Ryder Cup.

“While it is well known that I always enjoy a friendly wager on the course, I would never undermine the integrity of the game,” Mickelson said in a statement Thursday.

The stunning betting estimates Walters provides — from his own detailed record and from what he describes as two reliable sources — are detailed in an excerpt of Walters’ book, “Gambler: Secrets from a Life of Risk.”

Walters is widely regarded as America’s most famous gambler who claims to have a winning streak of more than 30 straight years.

He said he ended his betting partnership with Mickelson in 2014. Two years later, Walters was indicted in an insider trading case that partly involved stock tips prosecutors said he illegally passed to Mickelson. Mickelson was never charged but had to repay about $1 million he made off a stock deal. Walters was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. He claims he could have avoided prison if Mickelson had told a “simple truth.”

Walters said he never told Mickelson he had inside information on Dean Foods stock, and he believed that Mickelson could have helped him by testifying.

Walters said Mickelson told him he had two offshore accounts, and that Mickelson had limits of $400,000 on college games and $400,000 on the NFL.




(AP File photo Peter Morrison)