Dave Oancea, or better known as VegasDave, has beaten Vegas for over 20 million dollars.
In the middle of May, Dave purchased the very rare, 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Mike Trout Superfractor Autograph Card
He purchased it on ebay for $400,000. This was before Mike Trout’s 1000th game milestone. VegasDave, who owns the world’s most expensive Mike Trout collection, which was valued at 1 million before Mike Trout’s 1000th game.
The card was delivered from a seller in Taiwan in person in Las Vegas.
Dave has always been known to be a risk taker. He is known for his long shot bets on the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series in 2015 and his call that the Broncos would win the Superbowl in 2016, which he called in the preseason; both in which he made millions
Currently, he is in the midst of lawsuits. According to his representatives, Dave beat Las Vegas casinos for millions and they refused to pay him because they are accusing him of having an incorrect Social Security number on his players card. Dave is fighting these allegations in pursuit of the money the Las Vegas casinos have failed to pay him.
He went back to sports collectibles until he’s back in the casinos.
“When the casinos banned me, I was bored,” he said. “I don’t like to play the stock market so this is what I did.”
Now, Dave owns the largest Mike Trout collection known to man: “I just felt that Trout’s the best player. Someone told me you’ll never find a Red Trout, you’ll never find the Super and you’ll never find the Orange,” he said. “Within one year I found the Super, a Red and eight Oranges.”
None of these cards were cheap for Dave and when he finally saw the Superfractor on Ebay for $500,000, he attempted to buy it.
The request was denied: “I was kind of pissed off,” Oancea said. He told the seller, “You’re showboating. Why even list it? And he said, ‘You’re right. I’ll take it off.’” And that’s what the seller did.
It became available shortly after from a different seller in Taiwan, and Dave offered $300,000. The seller counted at $400,000 and Dave hit the “Buy It Now” button: “I could have negotiated. I didn’t want to nickel and dime him so I hit the Buy It Now,” he said. “Everyone had the opportunity but I’m the only one that had the balls to hit the bid.”
Normally, it’s very risky to buy a card that’s less than 10 years old, but Dave claimed there was no risk when he bought the card in May: As for the Trout Superfractor Autograph, Oancea is confident with his purchase and what the future holds, “Someone could offer me $2 million tomorrow and I would say no. I’d rather hold it and have the accomplishment of breaking the record for the highest paid card.
Now, fast forward to June. Dave’s risk has paid off. After Mike Trout’s career milestones achieved at 1000 games, his collection value has doubled in one month. The collection is now estimated to be worth 2 million or more.
