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Wisconsin man who won $1.2 million on Tiger's Masters win puts six figures on historic Grand Slam bet
(Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for William Hill US)
James Adducci has doubled down. Golf Digest has learned that Adducci, the 39-year-old Wisconsin man who won $1.19 million on Tiger Woods winning the Masters, has taken $100,000 of his winnings and placed it on Woods to win the Grand Slam.
William Hill U.S. confirmed the bet was placed on Wednesday afternoon at the SLS Casino in Las Vegas, the same sportsbook where Adducci placed—and then cashed—his first bet. Michael Grodsky, William Hill's VP of marketing, said Adducci flew to Vegas and placed the bet on Wednesday. Adducci said he flew out Tuesday from his hometown La Crosse, Wis. He called Grodsky to let him know he was in Vegas, and after about a day or so of collaborating, William Hill officials confirmed the odds and the amount they'd allow Adducci to bet.
"[William Hill] told me it’s a bet that’s never been seen before.” Adducci told Golf Digest. “To make $1 million is a step. To make $10 million is jumping to a new level.”
Adducci claims his initial $85,000 bet on Tiger to win the Masters at 14-1 was his first sports bet. The $100,000 bet at 100-1 odds on Tiger Woods winning the Grand Slam would net the 39-year-old Wisconsin man a $10 million payday. Tiger's current odds of winning next week's PGA Championship are listed at 8-1 at the Westgate Sportsbook.
On Thursday, Adducci addressed those online who were calling him out for making the bet. "Those who are saying I'm an idiot for not just placing the bet on the PGA don't understand how sportsbooks calculate risk, and they'd never allow me to place so much money down on a bet down the road for millions of dollars."
His first bet marked the largest payout on a futures ticket in William Hill's U.S. history. A $10-million payout would go down as one of the biggest in sports history.
What would Adducci do with the money? He says he joked with Action Network about buying an ostrich farm to race them to "mess with them," but in actuality, he would double down on investments, hoping to make $20, $30 million on that payout.
"Tiger has history winning at Bethpage, and he won at Pebble, by the biggest margin in history," Adducci told Golf Digest. "This is a very unique situation. That's the way I'm thinking about it. We know that with every win, the energy level will get amped up. His game gets elevated. The expectation—does he play well under pressure? He's the definition of excelling under pressure. That's how my brain works."
Though Tiger won what's known as the "Tiger Slam," holding all four majors at the same time, nobody has replicated the impregnable quadrilateral clinched by Bobby Jones in 1930. Of course, at that time, Jones, the greatest amateur golfer ever, won the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur to complete the Grand Slam, along with the U.S. Open and Open Championship.
A USA Today report following William Hill's celebration of his bet detailed Adducci's criminal history, which includes four misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and 12 total guilty pleas.
(story updated on Thursday)