Anyone who has seen The Simpsons episode where Monty Burns opens a casino knows that betting is evil, and Gamblor will ensnare you with his neon claws if you partake. Taking a punt on the beautiful game, however, is a big part of European football culture and a huge money-making industry. But that industry has made a lot less money recently, thanks to a few lucky chaps who placed unlikely accumulator bets (where one bets on more than one result to receive longer odds). First up is a Maltese villager who staked a single euro on 19 matches in November, giving him odds of 683,783/1. Thanks to toilet seat-stealing right-back Glen Johnson, his ship came in. Reports The Independent:
The 41-year-old waiter placed a successful one-euro bet on 19 fixtures landing £570,000 after Glen Johnson’s late winner for Liverpool against Chelsea on 20 November secured the final leg.
The win was so big and so unexpected that bookmaker William Hill suffered one of its worst months in a decade. Strangely, no one felt sorry for them.
Another man who is even luckier than the discoverers of Megan Fox Island correctly backed 16 winners over this past weekend. Selecting games taking place in England, Greece, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Brazil, a Greek punter turned €220 into €435,887 ($567,000). Goal.com elaborates:
The Greek customer, who loves lining up these accumulator bets every weekend, finally got lucky when he combined 13 odds on shots alongside Palmeiras to beat Bragantino at 5/4 (2.25), Manchester United to get the better of Arsenal at 6/4 (2.5) and amazingly Xanthi to beat Olympiakos at 11/2 (6.50) in his home country. His €170 stake was turned to €435,887 and his life was changed forever.
Of course, for every person who wins big on an accumulator, there are thousands who lose and end up funding the betting company’s next batch of incredibly annoying pop-up ads. But the thrill of the big win has to be worth it? Right? Am I right?! Excuse me while I go and buy another 4,000 scratch cards…
