With 2019 now drawing to its close and a new year almost upon us, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the biggest bet wins from the previous 12 months. On Friday the 13th we brought you a list of the unluckiest bets from recent history, just to make you all feel better about your own near misses down the betting office.
This time, prepared to be really, really jealous of these unbelievably lucky punters who have scooped humongous rewards from very modest stakes. Below, we’ve picked five of the biggest winners from 2019 – enjoy, and maybe even pretend that you won them; what would you spend the colossal winnings on?
5) £50 into £185k
We kick off this list with an astonishing football bet, won at the beginning of the year after a ballsy punter staked £50 on a 20-fold accumulator in his local William Hill bookies. Placing a 20-fold acca is ridiculous enough, let alone staking £50 on it, but credit where it’s due, it paid off for this particular bettor and he scooped an eye-watering £185,162 after all of his teams won. Unbelievable stuff.
Record football accumulator sees lucky punter WIN £185k from £50 bet https://t.co/GdQ3KM18OH pic.twitter.com/pb1qBApzP7
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) February 26, 2019
The bet in full:
AC Milan vs Empoli @2/7 (Won 3-0)
Newcastle vs Huddersfield @8/11 (Won 2-0)
Leeds vs Bolton @1/6 (Won 2-1)
Norwich vs Bristol City @EVS (Won 3-2)
Bury vs Oldham @8/11 (Won 3-1)
MK Dons vs Newport @4/5 (Won 2-0)
Morecambe vs Lincoln @4/5 (Won 2-0)
Inverness vs Morton @4/5(Won 1-0)
Raith vs Montrose @4/6 (Won 4-1)
Edinburgh vs Cowdenbeath @2/5 (Won 2-0)
Sevilla vs Barcelona @5/6 (Won 4-2)
Bayern Munich vs Hertha Berlin @1/7 (Won 1-0)
PSG vs Nimes @1/5 (Won 3-0)
Arsenal vs Southampton @4/9 (Won 2-0)
Hamilton vs Rangers @1/5 (Won 5-0)
Celtic vs Motherwell @1/6 (Won 4-1)
Atletico Madrid vs Villareal @8/15 (Won 2-0)
Levante vs Real Madrid @1/2 (Won 2-1)
Dortmund vs Leverkusen @4/5 (Won 3-2)
Bologna vs Juventus @4/9 (Won 1-0)
4) Glorious Cheltenham
The Cheltenham Festival is the biggest horse racing event of the year in the UK. Every March, thousands of punters flock to the Gloucestershire race course to try and win big. Many do, winning four-figure sums off small stakes, but this year there was one man who took it to a whole new level. Placing a £2 wager in the on-course Tote Placepot, where you have to pick a placed horse – usually one of the first three – in every race, the punter scooped an astonishing £182,000 after all of his selections came in. Take a bow, son.
‘The lady on the counter… her face dropped’ – Cheltenham punter wins £182,567 from £2 bet https://t.co/Rzc6t2jfuy
— BBC Horse Racing (@BBCHorseRacing) March 13, 2019
| Race 1 | Klassical Dream | 1st |
| Race 2 | Duc Des Genievres | 1st |
| Race 3 | Beware The Bear | 1st |
| Race 4 | Melon | 2nd |
| Race 5 | Stormy Ireland | 2nd |
| Race 6 | A Plus Tard | 1st |
3) Perfect timing
Sometimes, winning big is all about timing. There is a time and a place to lose your nerve and cash out – if you do it too early you can completely ruin your life, leave it too late and it’s the same result. However, in this case, for this lucky bettor, he absolutely nailed his cash out choice when he decided to pull the plug on his ambitious BTTS & win 10-fold earlier this year.
The full returns came out at a cool £1 million from a £5 stake, though the punter in question decided to pocket £200,000 midway through Real Madrid’s clash against Villarreal in September. The score stood at 1-1 heading into the break, and the punter was offered just under £200k from the bookies to bail out early, which he took. It turned out to be the perfect decision, too, as the match ended 2-2. Had he had let it run, he’d have been left penny-less.
Football fan cashes out at perfect moment as £5 punt turns into £200,000 winning bet on 10-fold acca https://t.co/vWReq15ffv
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) September 3, 2019
2) Melbourne Cup madness
The next bet comes from the other side of the planet, courtesy of one of the biggest horse racing events in the entire world – the Melbourne Cup in Australia. Each year, thousands await this prestigious race meeting, with the day gaining media coverage worldwide. Some of the finest jockeys and horses in the business all compete for the coveted prize in southern Australia each year, with punters regularly winning large sums of money after selecting the correct winners.
This year, though, one stood out from the rest. An anonymous man placed a $10 bet at staggering odds of 79,300/1, correctly predicting the top four horses in the nation’s biggest race; he won a total of $793,000. The punter only won his bet after the finish places were re-ordered following a protest, and Master of Reality – ridden by Frankie Dettori – was demoted to fourth after stewards ruled the horse nudged Il Paradiso in the home straight. Champagne all round.
Vow And Declare won a dramatic Melbourne Cup while Frankie Dettori’s runner-up Master Of Reality was demoted to fourth after a stewards’ inquiry.
More here ? https://t.co/Rh8JiGCiZT #MelbourneCup pic.twitter.com/0YL4TBthbD
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 5, 2019
1) Punter smashes Coral’s pay-out record
So here it is, folks. The top dog, and it’s an absolute cracker. This Coral online customer from Leicestershire, who chose to remain unnamed, scooped a whopping £823,000 after placing a £19 five-fold horse accumulator at Punchestown – all of which came in. The pay-out was the highest in the betting firm’s history (horse racing only).
“I’ve been placing these accumulator bets pretty much every day for twenty years, and winning this bet is the realisation of a lifetime dream. Over the years I’ve come close to landing a big return a couple of times but kept hitting the woodwork, and now I’ve done it I feel remarkably calm. I don’t know if I’ll even carry on betting after this as I feel I’ve achieved my goal”, said the punter after the monstrous win. We doth our cap to you, sir.
** Leicester Coral Punter’s Winning Bet **
STAKED £19 RETURNS £822,972.75
FIVE WINNING SELECTIONS
10/1 Das Mooser (3.40 Punchestown)
9/2 Woodland Opera (4.20 Punchestown)
7/1 Definite Ruby (4.55 Punchestown)
10/1 Bacardys (6.05 Punchestown)
33/1 Canardier (7.45 Punchestown)
(5 x £3 Fourfold Accumulators)
(1 x £4 Fivefold Accumulator)