Rufus Peabody on His Near Miss at the 2022 PGA Championship

Rufus Peabody is one of the most famous people in sports gambling, and he almost cashed in one of the biggest bets ever on the recent PGA Championship.

Professional bettor and co-founder of Unabated Sports, Rufus Peabody plays a very important role in the future of betting on golf, and it's something Peabody is (obviously) passionate about, citing his love for golf since a young age.

"I've always enjoyed playing golf, but certainly modeling and betting golf has fuelled that passion."

2022 PGA Championship Bet

As we know now, the 2022 PGA Championship was won by Justin Thomas in a playoff against Will Zalatoris, but before we even got to those three holes, a lesser-known golfer from Chile was oh-so-close to cashing a $150,000 ticket for Peabody.

Mito Pereira arrived at the 17th hole on Sunday with the lead, only to send his drive into the water. This led the then 100th ranked player in the world to miss the playoff completely, finishing the tournament in T3 with Cameron Young.

But it wasn't only Pereira that missed out on a big win on that Sunday afternoon, with Rufus Peabody riding out a $500 bet that would've won $150K if the Chilean saluted.

Well, that hurt. pic.twitter.com/6QGCefS9SJ

— Rufus (@RufusPeabody) May 22, 2022

Speaking to Dimers.com, Peabody said that he placed the bet at Circa (amongst other books) on the Monday of tournament week, with Pereira's odds one of a few guys' that stood out.

"I had exposure on probably 20 players outright (mostly longshots). It's just about how my numbers compare to the market."

Amongst those 20 players that Peabody was riding was the man who tied for third with Pereira, in 25-year-old American, Cameron Young.

So although, as Peabody puts it - "most were never in contention" - having a 300/1 and 90/1 shot in a with a chance of winning on the back nine of Sunday's action shows just how good the Bet The Process host is at what he does.

Talking about the actual day that it almost came together for Peabody, the man himself said it was pretty much a standard Sunday for him.

"I just watched the round at my condo. I didn't watch the whole thing, but watched the entire back nine. It was just a normal day." 

Mechanics vs. Meditation

So how does someone who is one of the most well-known bettors in the data and analytics world balance his professional life with his personal life?

pic.twitter.com/t67RGltuun

— Rufus (@RufusPeabody) May 23, 2022

A reader of philosophy, Peabody is big on controlling the controllable (his models) and letting the rest (bad beats) happen.

"I don't really implement these philosophies in my betting. It's more about how I deal with things that arise in my professional (and personal) life. My betting is much more mechanical. I have a process that I stick with."

When asked for a key learning he's made recently from his reading, Peabody spoke about finding (and controlling) your own happiness.

"I think the biggest thing is just to accept yourself and realize that happiness comes from within."

Bet The Process Podcast

Peabody is now known as the host of the Bet the Process podcast, a join venture he started with Jeff Ma around five years ago.

"Jeff and I started BTP five years ago after we had both done stints as ESPN's 'predictive analytics expert'. We didn't really feel [the role at ESPN] gave us the platform to discuss sports betting in the way we wanted.

"It was just something we decided to do for fun."

With minds like Rufus' helping regular bettors on podcasts such as this one, we're for sure going to see some more big wins in the future!

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