It’s long been known that Phil Mickelson is into gambling. Just Google ‘Phil Mickelson gambling,’ and you’ll have endless material to read, watch, and/or listen to. But now more details have come to light, thanks to Mickelson’s former friend, Billy Waters’s, new book, Gambler: Secrets from a Life of Risk.
According to Waters, Mickelson gambled over $1 billion over the past three decades. This includes June 22, 2011, when he made 43 bets on MLB games and lost $143,500.
“My gambling got to a point of being reckless and embarrassing,” Mickelson stated in a Sports Illustrated article last year. “I had to address it. And I’ve been addressing it for a number of years. And for hundreds of hours of therapy. I feel good where I’m at there. My family and I are and have been financially secure for some time.
“Gambling has been part of my life ever since I can remember. But about a decade ago is when I would say it became reckless. It’s embarrassing. I don’t like that people know. The fact is I’ve been dealing with it for some time.”
Could this “reckless” gambling Mickelson hints at involve gambling on events he was playing in? Waters alleges that while playing at the 2012 Ryder Cup, Mickelson tried to get Waters to bet $400,000 for him on Team USA to win the event. Waters claims he stopped him from doing this (considering Waters wrote the book, it’s no surprise he paints himself as the hero).
For his part, Mickelson claims to have put gambling behind him.
