A Quartet of Epic Sporting Moments

The drama of sport is the uncertainty, pitting underdogs against favorites and, just sometimes, enjoying the unexpected victory of David over Goliath. Here are four of the best instances in sports betting history that made fans, and bettors, cheer with delight.

The Blue Jays become Two-Time Champions

With 29 of the 30 MLB teams coming from the United States, it’s no surprise that Canada has had rather fewer World Series triumphs than its southern neighbor, but for two glorious years, the boot was very much on the other foot. In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first team from outside the USA to appear in the World Series, and, better yet, they crowned this achievement by beating the Atlanta Braves 4-2, a scoreline that’s all the more impressive bearing in mind they actually lost the first game.

But retaining a title can be harder than winning it, as a champion has a target on their back and is much more the hunted than the hunter. Not to mention the Blue Jays had become the first Canadian team to win the World Series, so surely winning two in a row was too big an ask?

Unlike in 1992, their 1993 World Series appearance saw the Blue Jays take an early lead, and while the Phillies pegged them back in game 2, the Blue Jays were either level or ahead throughout their campaign. But in the sixth game (3-2 up in the series overall) they needed a walk-off to win.

Enter Joe Carter, who stepped up to the plate both in a literal and metaphorical sense. Defying the immense pressure of the situation, Carter duly delivered and became only the second man in World Series history (alongside Bill Mazeroski) to win a World Series with a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Betting on the Stanley Cup, World Series, and other major sports has never been more popular for Canadians, and the same is true of online casino betting as illustrated by online-casinos.ca. One downside to sports betting is that it’s necessarily an emotional affair, and sometimes it’s nicer to just enjoy the game and leave the betting for blackjack and slots.

Verstappen’s Debut Win Against the Odds

Drivers making the transition up to Formula 1, the leading motorsport on the global stage, can sometimes underperform, and sometimes exceed expectations. Just occasionally, a superstar is born right away. Many doubts were harbored about Max Verstappen, who joined the sport when he was just 17 (prompting the rules to be changed so drivers have to be a little older). At the age of only 18, Verstappen replaced Daniil Kvyat at the senior Red Bull team, one of the major players in the F1 world. The Dutchman had certainly driven well so far, but would it prove a step too far?

The power of breaking online news here comes to the fore, as those lucky enough to be online for the surprise transfer news could back Verstappen at 250/1 for the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix win before sportsbooks could alter their prices, and even when they did he was still a hefty 40/1. However, there were some problems. Verstappen undoubtedly had talent but he hadn’t been in the sport for long and was very young. Not only that, the Mercedes team was absolutely dominant in 2016, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg battling it out for another seemingly inevitable victory. And, to top it off, Ferrari looked to be faster than Red Bull.

The rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg was pretty intense, and this manifested at the next event, the Spanish Grand Prix of 2016. Hamilton sought to pass his teammate on the first lap but Rosberg wasn’t having it and the ensuing collision took them both out of the race. Red Bull’s drivers inherited the lead, but Daniel Ricciardo was ahead of Verstappen. But when the pit stops had shaken things up, Verstappen was the man at the front, but with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen right behind him. And the Finn was visibly faster.

Raikkonen got within a second of Verstappen, the proximity required to activate the DRS (drag reduction system) that cuts down on drag and offers a significant speed boost. But he was unable to pass, for lap after lap after lap. Despite all the pressure, and it being the first time he’d ever raced in the Red Bull car, and his youth, Verstappen drove flawlessly. He didn’t put a foot wrong, and although the Ferrari clearly had superior pace Raikkonen was simply unable to make a pass. Verstappen claimed a famous long odds victory in his first-ever Red Bull race.

The Canadiens Complete a Quintet of Stanley Cups

Multi-stage betting, whether you call it a parlay bet, a multiple, or an accumulator, can offer fantastically long odds because of the numerous contingencies, as can long-term bets that necessarily only have a potential payoff years down the line. This means such profits are rare but can be very lucrative, and the moment that the Montreal Canadiens sealed the deal on a fabulous five Stanley Cups in a row stands out in Canadian sports (and betting) history.

The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup on more occasions than any other NHL franchise with 24 wins (23 during the existence of the NHL). And their purple patch was from the mid-50s to 1960. Perhaps ironically, it was fellow Canadian side the Toronto Maple Leafs who ended up thwarted by the Canadiens in April 1960.

Sometimes a Stanley Cup is a close-fought affair won by the narrowest of margins in the dying moments. This was not such an occasion. The Canadiens dominated their opponents ruthlessly right from the start, taking a 4-0 clean sweep to claim their fifth Stanley Cup in a row, a feat that had never been achieved before and hasn’t happened since.

Leicester City’s Incredible Title Triumph

In the betting and sporting world, upsets happen pretty often. After all, a 10/1 shot just means that in 20 or so events the long shot should come in once or twice. But there are long shots, and then there are underdogs with odds so long that they transcend the sporting contest and become known across the world. Odds so long they actually change the way that sportsbooks price outsiders because so much money was lost. There was a time when English Premier League outsiders could be 5,000/1 to win the title. But those times are past, and the reason is Leicester City and the most remarkable moment that has ever occurred in sports betting history.

For those unfamiliar with English soccer, the EPL is the top-tier league and has been dominated for a long time by certain major teams, such as Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City. Only a handful of teams have won the title, and they’re always in the hunt. An outsider breaking into this elite group of title contenders is rare, and jumping from a relegation struggle to title victory is simply unheard of. Or, to be more precise, it was unheard of until the 2015-16 Premier League season when Leicester City did the unthinkable. They won the title. And their odds were literally 5,000/1. To put that into context, a diehard fan who wagered a week’s pay would have won almost a century’s worth of salary. Even fans who wagered an optimistic fiver ended up with £25,000. It’s an incredible result and one that not only boosted the economy of Leicester but compelled bookies to stop offering odds this long for fear of incurring the same unexpected losses.

What makes this even more remarkable is that it wasn’t a one-off. It wasn’t an amazing performance on a single day, as has been seen with other sporting shocks (Japan beating South Africa in the Rugby World Cup, for example). Leicester City outperformed all expectations and did so over the course of an entire season, putting established big beasts to the sword.

It began with a change of manager, the team tossing Nigel Pearson overboard after a number of PR issues, and replacing him with Claudio Ranieri (formerly Chelsea’s manager). Any doubts about the new manager were swept away by the phenomenal start the team made to the season, and Leicester City were perched atop the league come Christmas Day. Just 12 months earlier they’d been last and had barely survived to make the 2015-16 season. Come May, the club were crowned champions, with bookmakers paying out £25m to very happy bettors.

Since then Leicester City have cemented their place as one of the powers in the English Premier League, and provide hope to every relegation struggler that, just occasionally, sporting miracles do happen.

That completes our quartet of fantastic sporting, and betting, moments, from epic title triumphs of years gone by to brilliant motorsport success. And whether you prefer to opt for betting in a casino or on sports, please remember to only bet what you can afford to lose.