Thousands bet on football matches every day. In fact, there’s a whole industry of people who make their bread and butter from gambling on this game. Some will spend a couple of pounds and others wager hundreds or even thousands at a time.
But anyone who gambles, whether it’s at the casino or the racetrack, dreams of that big win which change their life forever. Only a handful of lucky punters ever achieve this dream and below are the names of just a few of them. If you would like to test your luck try Topslots Canada as a start.
Mick Gibbs – £500,000 on a 30p bet
One of the biggest football bets of all time was won in 2001 by Mick Gibbs. This humble roofer from Staffordshire netted himself an astonishing £500,000. Even more amazing was that he only placed 30p on a bet which had odds of 1.6 million to one. According to bookmakers his chances of success was a measly 0.0000006%.
Despite this he won and one of the reasons why is because he bet on an accumulator where he had to correctly predict who would win all four professional English football leagues, plus the winners of crickets county championship and Rugby unions premiership.
What’s more, two years before this he was able to win another accumulator bet where he swept up £157,000 after betting £2.50.
Anonymous Malta – £585,000 on a 80p bet.
In 2011 a gambler living in a tiny village on the island of Malta put 80p on an outrageous 19 team accumulator. The odds of him winning were 683,738 to 1 and after Liverpool full back Glen Johnson scored a winning goal 3 minutes from full time, this lucky punter managed to win £585,000
Adrian Hayward – £25,000 on a £200 bet
This Liverpool fan bet £200 that midfielder Xabi Alonso would score from his own half. The odds of this happening were 125 to 1 and when Liverpool played against Luton town in the FA cups third round, Alonso scored a magnificent goal from the opposite end of the field, meaning Hayward was able to pick up £25,000.
While this sounds like an oddly specific bet to make, Hayward claimed to have noticed Alonso repeatedly attempting to shoot from his own half. Seeing this he knew it was only a matter of time before it happened and took a gamble.
Peter Edwards – £125,000 on a £50 bet
Not all bets are short term. Some people are prepared to wait for decades before their horse comes in. One of these people is Peter Edwards who bet that his grandson would one day play for Wales. He placed this bet when the boy was only six and at sixteen his grandson was chosen to represent his country as a professional footballer, winning £125,000 on a £50 bet for the old man.
Kyle Jordan – £45,000 on a £5 bet
In 2016 Kyle Jordan from London put a six fold accumulator on the outcomes of several football matches in the premier league. By the end of the year, five of these games had been won by his teams and with only 15 minutes left an audacious goal would win him £45,000 on a £5 bet against the incredible odds of 9.172 to 1. He immediately spent this money on a luxury holiday to Canada and America.
Leigh Herbert – £20,000 on a £5 bet
In 2015 bookmakers famously offered 5000 to 1 on Leicester City winning the premier league. One man who took them up was Leigh Herbert who placed £5. He won and cashed out £2 of his bet for £5,600. A month later he pulled out the remaining £3 and earned himself £15,000 for a total win of £20,000.
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