Top Five Biggest Betting Upsets in Sporting History

We absolutely had no choice but include the iconic poker scene from the Bond movie on this list. It is right up there with Dustin Hoffman’s Oscar-winning scene in Rainman as one of the finest depictions of a game of chance ever set on film.

Incidentally, the original Bond novel had the hero playing Chemin de fer (a version of Baccarat) against his nemesis, not poker. They changed that in the movie because poker has more dramatic potential, and it was a smart move.

This scene involving Daniel Craig and Mads Mikkelsen shows you that poker is never just about the cards – it is all about the person holding them. Why do many pro poker players wear shades indoors? It is for fear of revealing a “tell” – as they say, our eyes can betray secrets.

In Casino Royale, the poker game becomes a battle of wits between Bond and Le Chiffre, with one discovering the other’s tell, only to get played by it. The bottom line is if you want to get good at poker, learn how to read other people while keeping your own emotions under the wraps!

Very few professional boxers have managed to retire with an unblemished record. Floyd Mayweather is, of course, the latest addition to that list, but it is a mighty short one, with names like Rocky Marciano, Joe Calzaghe, and Edwin Valero.

One name that is missing from that list is Mike Tyson. When the boxer was in his prime, many considered him to be a probable candidate to join that elite club. But one man put paid to all those hopes – Buster Douglas.

A virtual unknown, Douglas was 7 years senior and had 4 losses to Tyson’s record of 37-0. 33 of those wins were brutal knockouts. Naturally, Tyson was the overwhelming favorite with odds of 42-1 in his favor,

The match started well enough for Tyson, who knocked down Douglas in the eighth round. But Buster recovered and pressed ahead, landing some lusty blows on the champ. And finally, in the 10th round, he connected with a knockout punch, ending Tyson’s unbeaten run for good.

The MLB has also seen its fair share if improbable escapes and championship wins against overwhelming odds. In 2011, it was the turn of the St Louis Cardinals to pull off the unthinkable in the National League.

With just 15 games to go, the Cardinals were languishing well behind the Atlanta Braves, and not even for the top spot either. They were seemingly out of contention for the Wildcard slots. Despite having a 4.5 games lead, the Braves had a horror end to their season, collapsing just as the Cardinals peaked.

With a dream run of 11-4 in the final 15, the Cardinals squeaked into the playoffs, and the rest is history. They then went on to beat the Phillies in the Division Series, followed by a win against the Brewers in the Championship series, qualifying for the World Series in the process.

Their opponent in the 2011 World Series was the Texas Rangers, whom they defeated across seven games to claim total victory. And the odds they overcame since that nadir with 15 games left to go? It was a barely noticeable 999-1!