Next in our series of 10 Celebrities and Sportsmen Who Are Sports Sports Bettors, comes one of the biggest names in Hollywood, Ashton Kutcher.

Kutcher is most famous for his appearances on TV shows such as Two and a Half Men and That 70’s Show, along with starring roles in the movies Dude Where’s My Car and No Strings Attached.

But in his time, Ashton has been quite a successful sports bettor, mostly on College American Football games!

BETTING STRATEGICALLY, NOT FOR THE THRILL

Unlike a lot of celebrities involved in the sports betting world, Kutcher has been extremely successful for one reason; he has a strategy!

Kutcher doesn’t gamble his money away for a quick thrill, he is a strategic sports bettor who uses mathematics and science to make decisions.

He’s aware that there’s no sure thing in sports betting and he takes a lot of enjoyment out of putting money on games where he’s done a thorough breakdown of data with the use of algorithms.

If you’ve read our article on Michael Jordan, you’ve probably realised that Kutcher’s betting antics are the complete opposite of the NBA star!

Kutcher takes a business-minded approach to his betting, which is quite ironic, considering the roles he acts are normally quite the opposite.

FRONTING BILLY WALTERS’ BETTING SYNDICATE?

As we stated in our article on professional sports bettor, Billy Walters, it was rumoured that Kutcher was once a bet placer for Walters’ famous betting syndicate.

Before going to prison, Billy Walters reportedly averaged $15 million in sports betting profits; not the worst bettor to be a frontman for!

These rumours were at their peak when Kutcher admitted the following in an interview with Esquire Magazine.

“I actually used to place bets for the largest national sports betting syndicate in America,” he said.

“I basically just placed bets for half a season, we cleared like $750,000 in four weeks of college football, it was pretty fun!”

The thought behind getting the Two and a Half Men star to place bets was that bookmakers would believe he was just a dumb actor who liked to put money on American Football games.

LOOKING FOR NUMERICAL ANOMALIES

But that couldn’t be further from the truth, Kutcher outlined the strategy of the betting syndicate, and it sounded a lot like Billy Walters’ strategy!

“They’re basically looking for numerical anomalies, it’s really complicated, you’ve got to know a lot of data points such as: how this team plays on various surfaces, in different weather etc.,” he said.

“These guys could do it, but generally these types of individuals aren’t allowed to gamble because they know how to handicap the house.

“So they sent me in! But they eventually caught on.”

A former Vegas Sportsbook manager said they thought Kutcher was a “sucker on a hook”, until he completed that amazing four-week run, then they shut him down.

WAS KUTCHER’S FRONT-MANNING ILLEGAL?

Messenger betting is illegal in Nevada, which is placing a bet one someone else’s behalf.

Which begs the question, why didn’t Kutcher cop some kind of reprimand for his actions?

Well, Nevada would have to prove that Kutcher was compensated by the syndicate for placing their wagers.

And also, looking at the timing of Kutcher’s announcement, compared to when he actually placed the bets, the statute of limitations had likely ran its course.

INVESTING IN UNIKRN - THE FUTURE OF SPORTS BETTING

After his time learning from one of the best sports bettors America has ever seen, in 2015, Kutcher made arguably his best bet yet!

He invested in the eSports company, Unikrn, which is basically a bookmaker for betting on eSports and video games.

Since his investment, Unikrn has become a household name for eSports sports bettors, partnering with MGM Resorts International in Las Vegas to host eSports events.

Not the worst investment from the so-called ‘dumb actor’, who is reportedly sitting on a net worth of $200 million!

Check out the other articles in our 10 Celebrities and Sportsmen Who Are Sports Bettors series on:

• Article 1: Michael Jordan, the ultimate example of NOT having a betting strategy
• Article 3: Floyd Mayweather, successful sports bettor or more trash talk?
• Article 4: 50 Cent’s $750k bet that Floyd Mayweather couldn’t read a page of Harry Potter
• Article 5: Pete Rose, the illegal gambler who cost himself $100 million
• Article 6: Charlie Sheen, so addicted to gambling that he didn’t even care when he won a million dollar bet
• Article 7: Wayne Rooney, football legend and betting hypocrite
• Article 8: Bryan ‘Birdman’ Williams, another celebrity lacking a winning sports betting strategy
• Article 9: Charles Barkely’s horrible gambling philosophy, ‘lose hundreds of thousands, not millions’
• Article 10: Ben Affleck, the movie star who learnt how to count cards

Want to read about some other professional sports bettors or some of our customers who are on their way to becoming professional sports bettors too? Take a look at some of these videos/articles:

1. My Value Betting Journey from 1k to 2k
2. 10 People Who Got Rich From Sports Betting
3. Jonas Gjelstad Documentary Series - from $10k to $1m