Vegas Dave, Controversial Handicapper, Wins Big on Mike Trout Baseball Card

Posted on: August 24, 2020, 12:30h. 

Last updated on: January 3, 2023, 05:36h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Dave Oancea, the oft-derided sports handicapper, bet big and won on a baseball card. To be specific, the heavily criticized quasi-celebrity sports bettor sold a rare Mike Trout rookie card for $3.93 million after purchasing it for $400,000 in 2018.

Vegas Dave Wins On Mike Trout Card
Vegas Dave Oancea seen at a Lakers game earlier this year with then-girlfriend Holly Sonders sold a baseball card for almost $4 million. (Image: Getty Images)

After fetching that $3.9 million price tag in a bidding process conducted by Goldin Auctions, the card of the Los Angeles Angeles slugger is now the most valuable baseball card ever sold. It easily topped the $3.12 million paid in 2016 for the famed T206 Honus Wagner card, also known as the “Jumbo Wagner.”

In sports cards, scarcity is the name of the game, and the Trout card sold by “Vegas Dave” has that in spades. From the 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Superfractor collection, the card is the only one of its kind. Oancea’s sale comes after an autographed Trout rookie card traded for $900,000 in May.

As is par for the course with Oancea, he took to social media to brag about his success, likely further drawing the ire of legions of critics that assert he’s no more than a “scamdicapper” – not a successful professional sports bettor.

https://twitter.com/itsvegasdave/status/1297410249083633665?s=20

Haters Gonna Hate

Oancea is one of the most visible handicappers in the industry. His brash ways and purported ties to high-profile athletes and Hollywood celebrities make him a target for criticism among the sports wagering community’s more ethical information providers.

Referring to his critics as “haters,” Oancea uses old-school marketing ploys to lure unknowing customers. Those gimmicks include videos and social media posts in exotic cars, boarding or leaving private jets, and pulling up to Las Vegas casinos with large sums of cash in Hermes Birkin bags.

His relationship with former Fox Sports host Holly Sonders also garnered plenty of headlines in the Hollywood and sports betting worlds in 2019 and into this year. Oancea leveraged that, too, frequently posting pictures of the couple on exotic vacations, including Cabo San Lucas. Some of the posts featured photos or videos of the handicapper grabbing Sonders’ rear end or making lewd comments about their love life.

None of these things endear Vegas Dave to the legitimate sports information community. Nor does his dreadful track record on “whale” plays — picks he charges clients larges sums of cash for that rarely generate a return on investment.

Earlier this year, he was criticized for capitalizing on the coronavirus sports shutdown by hawking picks on obscure sports, such as curling, to unwitting clients.

Checkered History

In addition to his debatable track record on the picks he sells, Oancea was indicted in April 2017 on 19 felony charges for allegedly using fake Social Security numbers to open accounts at Las Vegas casinos. He avoided prison time, but he’s barred from Nevada sportsbooks for three years.

He rose to fame in 2015 for a 30-1 bet on the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series, which netted him $2.5 million. However, his record since then is dubious, and there’s no shortage of social media accounts, including Twitter feeds and YouTube channels, detailing his sub-par sports betting performances.