£22,222.22 Win At The Bookies On BrazilA
Lowestoft pensioner had an anxious 90 minutes on Thursday night after placing a whopping
£100,000 on a World Cup match.
The man in his 70s, who has not been named, coolly walked into
bookmakers William Hill in the town and placed his cash on world champions, Brazil, to beat rivals Japan.
At the final whistle, the retired businessman had won
£22,222.22 - but only after nervous moments when Japan actually took the lead in the game.
In fact the man who took the bet, deputy manager Glenn Fuller, said he thought the punter had "probably had a heart attack".
Eventually the South Americans fought back to win 4-1, and the lucky punter collected his winnings yesterday telling staff "thank you very much".
Last night, Mr Fuller revealed his surprise when the regular customer walked into the shop in London Road North.
"It was a hell of a surprise," he said. "I didn't believe him at first".
He just said "I want place a bet on Brazil to beat Japan". He said it was the biggest bet of his life.
Mr Fuller rang his bosses for clearance to take such a large bet, believed to be the second biggest single punt of the tournament so far, and it took him about 15 minutes to count out the cash.
The pensioner took odds of nine to two on and may have begun to regret it as half time approached with Japan 1-0 up from a Keiji Tamada strike.
But Ronaldo equalised just before the break and Brazil romped home as winners with three further goals in the second period.
"We watched the game and when Japan scored we thought he must have had a heart attack or something," Mr Fuller said.
However, Mr Fuller said the gambler was not jumping for joy when he collected his winnings of �22,222.22 and his initial stake money yesterday.
"He just said thank you very much," he said.
The mysterious punter had more luck than a Swiss man who took a gamble last weekend.
He
blew £400,000 predicting Italy would beat USA last Saturday - the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
