$880K wager on Floyd Mayweather rewritten as two separate bets
-- A Las Vegas casino on Friday took a bet on Floyd Mayweather that was so large, the sportsbook computer system couldn't handle it.
An anonymous bettor at the South Point Casino placed an $880,000 bet on Mayweather to beat Conor McGregor in a boxing match that is attracting major betting action in Las Vegas. The bout is scheduled for Aug. 26 at T-Mobile Arena.
The $880,000 bet is believed to be the largest placed on the fight in Las Vegas at this point. Mayweather was a -550 favorite when the bet came in Friday afternoon. If the undefeated Mayweather is able to defeat McGregor, a UFC star who is making his professional boxing debut, the bettor would net a $160,000 profit.
The bet was first reported by Vegas Stats & Information, which sent out a picture of the betting slip on social media.
The original ticket showed only a $120,000 profit, instead of the correct $160,000 that would come from the wager. The misprint was caused by a rule in South Point's bookmaking system that does not permit payouts of greater than $1 million, according to sportsbook director Chris Andrews. The total payout, should Mayweather prevail, would be $1.04 million.
The book rewrote two separate bets for $440,000 each to rectify the issue.
"I'm glad we got it," Andrews said of the bet in a text message to ESPN.
Other books are hoping for similar-sized bets on Mayweather to help them even out some of the massive liability that has built up on McGregor. William Hill's Nevada sportsbook, where 95 percent of the bets have been on the underdog, said its liability on McGregor is already well over $1 million.
For every one bet on Mayweather at MGM's sportsbook, there have been 27 on McGregor, according to assistant manager Jeff Stoneback.