The 10 most amazing bets that succeeded
Millions of people love having a flutter, but very few ever succeed in pulling off a spectacular bet against the odds. Here Times Money lists some of the most unusual bets that paid off
1. Luck of the north, 2008: 2,000,000-1
Fred Craggs, a 60-year-old Yorkshireman, won £1 million from William Hill for 50p - landing odds of 2,000,000-1 in the process when selecting eight winners at the races. The first winner was called Isn't That Lucky and the last A Dream Come True. Living up to the dour Yorkshireman image, he commented "A million isn't what it used to be. It's small fry to a footballer's wage"
2. Lucky run, 2001: 1,666,666-1
Mick Gibbs, a Staffordshire roofer, bet 30p on the winners of fifteen sporting events at odds of 1,666,666-1 and collected £500,000 from William Hill in May 2001
3. Celebrity roulette, 1963: 50,652-1
Sean Connery defied odds of 50,652-1 in 1963 when he won £10,000 by betting that Number 17 would come up on three consecutive spins of the roulette wheel in an Italian casino
4. Dettori magic, 1996: 25,000-1
Frankie Dettori beat odds of 25,000-1 when he won all seven races at Ascot on Sept 28, 1996. Darren Yates of Morecambe bet £59 on him doing so and won £550,000
5. Man on moon, 1964: 1,000-1
David Threlfall bet £10 at 1,000-1 in 1964 that a man would walk on the moon before 1970. He won £10,000
6. Headingley, 1981: 500-1
With England looking in dire trouble in the Leeds test of the 1981 Ashes series, Australians Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh thought the odds of 500-1 against England pulling off a victory looked too good to pass up. Ian Botham scored a magnificent century, he and Bob Willis dismissed the Australians cheaply and England won a famous victory, while Lillee and Marsh pocketed their winnings
7. Derby Day, 1946: 100-1
An RAF officer who had been a POW in Germany during the war wanted to bet his entire accumulated back pay on an outsider in the Derby. The other officers on his station tried to stop him wasting his money and sought to get him declared insane - but to no avail. When his chosen horse, Airborne, romped home at odds of 100-1, he went round the station brandishing his winnings and asking “Who’s the madman now?”
8. Death-defying feat, 2008: 50-1
Jon Matthews, a lung cancer sufferer, of Milton Keynes, was determined to beat his doctor's pessimistic prognosis and bet that he would survive for at least nine months after being diagnosed in October 2007. On June 1, 2008 his bet of £100 at 50-1 that he would still be alive paid off to the tune of £5000
9. Confidence pays, 1973: 33-1
Sir Clement Freud won "four years' Parliamentary salary" when he bet on himself at 33-1 to win the 1973 Ely by-election for the Liberal Party.
10. Bear’s Best golf course, Las Vegas, 2007
A group of players bet Erick Lindgren that he couldn’t play 72 holes of golf in one day. He had to play off the pro tees, walk the entire way, carry his own clubs and score under 100 on every round. Lindgren completed the task in searing 100 degree heat and won a reported $340,000.
This list was compiled with the help of Graham Sharpe, of William Hill. Mr Sharpe's new book, 500 Greatest Gambles and Gamblers (Highdown, £12.99) is available in the shops.
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I pity the fools
Posted by: Deputy Dog | 22 Jan 2009 14:19:33
Darren Yates wasn't short changed. It is normal in multiple bets such as an accumulator that the gambler selects more than one horse per race to hedge his bets, this means you have to control you individual bet stake to 50p or similar. The winning line probably had odds of 1 million + to 1.
Posted by: timm | 17 Dec 2008 16:56:15
The lottery odds are 14,000,000 to 1 and it is won almost every week sometimes twice and sometimes there are more than one winner.
Posted by: Bashar | 11 Dec 2008 19:30:58
Darren Yates bookmaker must have had a ceiling on payouts as most bookies do.
Posted by: chaz | 5 Dec 2008 03:25:36
Darren Yates bet £59 at odds of 25,000-1, but only won £550,000? I bet he felt short changed.
Posted by: James | 4 Dec 2008 22:22:42
surely lottery winners have won the most at the greatest odds ?
Posted by: adrian | 3 Dec 2008 17:09:37
Erick Lindgren actually played 90 holes in a day, because on his first round he scored exactly 100 (so that one didn't count).
Posted by: Matthew Bailey | 3 Dec 2008 10:24:13
Gambling is a Sin. Sinners burn.
Don't go there y'all.
Posted by: Amen | 2 Dec 2008 16:09:43