The world's biggest payouts on the longest sports bets
06 May 2016
Small stakes, huge wins
As several lucky Leicester City fans pocket a small fortune, having placed pre-season bets at 5,000/1 on their team to win the English Premier League soccer title, we take a look at the most incredible long shot bets in sporting history.
Odds: 125/1
After dreaming that Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso would score from his own half sometime during the 2006 English soccer season, Adrian Hayward placed a £200 ($290) bet at odds of 125/1. Alonso delivered the goods at the FA Cup Final, and Hayward banked £25,000 ($36k).
Odds: 500/1 & 999/1
In 2011, an unnamed baseball fan placed a $250 (£172) bet at odds of 500/1 on underdogs St. Louis Cardinals making the World Series. He then followed up his outlandish wager with another one for the same amount when the odds hit 999/1. The Cards achieved the impossible and the gambler received a payout of $375,000 (£259k).
Odds: 852/1
A sports-mad Australian named Brett cashed in on a parlay bet combining two horse races and last year's Masters Golf Tournament. Shelling out just A$250 (£129 / $187), he eventually won A$213,046 (£110k / $159k).
Odds: 947/1
Three lucky gamblers made a tidy sum after betting on rank outsider Wishing Well to win a key race at Kentucky's Latonia track in 1912. At 947/1, the odds are the longest ever recorded against a single winning horse in American racing history.
Odds: 1,000/1
Mali was losing 4-0 to Angola during the opening game of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations with just 16 minutes remaining in the game. At that very moment, a drunken soccer fan placed a £5 ($7.24) bet at odds of 1,000/1 on Mali scoring four goals to equalize. The team famously pulled it off, and the fan won £5,000 ($7.2k).
Odds: 1,000/1
In 1964, David Threlfall of Preston, England bet £10 ($15) a man would walk on the surface of the Moon by 1970. The wager seemed so far-fetched at the time, bookmaker William Hill offered odds of 1,000/1. Needless to say, when Neil Armstrong made his giant leap for mankind in 1969, Threlfall promptly received a payout for £10,000 ($14.5k).
Odds: 1,250/1
An unnamed F1 enthusiast spotted 13-year-old Lewis Hamilton go-karting in 1998 and, certain he was destined for great things, placed a £100 ($145) bet on him winning a F1 World Championship one day. When Hamilton claimed the title in 2008, the prophetic person bagged £125,000 (£181k).
Odds: 2,500/1
With a similar eye for fledgling talent, Peter Edwards had an inkling his 18-month-old grandson Harry Wilson would grow up to be a talented soccer pro, so in 1998 he bet £50 (£72) on the toddler playing for the Welsh national team some day. Fast-forward to 2013, and Wilson became the youngest player to represent Wales, netting his savvy grandpa a very respectable £125,000 ($181k).
Odds: 2,626/1
In May 2015, an Australian rules football fan bagged hundreds of thousands of dollars after winning a cumulative wager. They had to predict the exact winning margin in two NRL games, and thanks to odds of 2,626/1, the A$100 (£51 / $75) stake turned into A$262,600 (£135k / $196k).
Odds: 3,000/1
Californian couple Ryan Cazares and Nadia Nicole received a very welcome early Christmas gift when they bet $15 (£10.30) on 12 NFL games last December in Las Vegas. The football-loving twosome predicted the games' outcomes to a T, securing a $45,000 (£31k) payout.
Odds: 6,480/1
A 49-year-old shift worker from Newport, South Wales enjoyed an unforgettable millennium celebration after winning £194,400 ($282k) on a £30 ($44) cumulative novelty bet placed back in 1989. At odds of 6,480/1, he correctly predicted that, by the year 2000, U2 would still be together, Cliff Richard would be knighted and three popular soap operas would still be on TV.
Odds: 6,500/1
A shrewd soccer fan from London snagged £650,000 ($942k) after placing a £100 ($145) accumulator bet on the results of eight matches one Saturday afternoon in 2014. Against odds of 6,500/1, and to the horror of the bookmaker, all eight predictions turned out to be spot-on.
Odds: 8,900/1
In February 2015, a Dublin resident hit the jackpot when a €10 (£7.92 / $11.49) soccer accumulator stake turned into €89,000 (£70k / $102k). The Irish sports fan bet on a total of 15 teams, beating odds of 8,900/1.
Odds: 9,322/1
Darren Yeats of Morecambe, England put down £59 ($85) on jockey Frankie Dettori to win all his races at Ascot during the 1996 racing season. Against odds of 9,322/1, the Italian-born jockey achieved 'the magnificent seven' and Yeats bagged £550,000 (£797k).
Odds: 2,305/1
Darren Yeats wasn't the only bettor to score megabucks following Dettori's historic win. Mary Bolton of Glastonbury, England was gifted a £216.91 ($314) combination bet by her husband to mark their 19th wedding anniversary – she eventually won £500,000 ($724k).
Odds: 11,587/1
An Arizona NFL fan placed a frivolous $5 (£3.45) accumulator bet in September 2014, not expecting to win very much. In fact, against odds of 11,587/1 he correctly predicted the winners of 15 NFL games over a two-day period, landing $57,935 (£40k).
Odds: 20,000/1
Stable lad Conor Murphy lucked out big-time when he put down a £50 (£72) accumulator bet on five of his boss's horses winning their races at the 2012 Cheltenham Festival in England. The horses triumphed and Murphy walked away with $1 million ($1.5m).
Odds: 20,000/1
Las Vegas native Tayla Polia scooped $100,000 (£69k) on a $5 (£3.45) NFL accumulator bet in December 2015. The football fan successful guessed the outcomes of 15 games, including several nail-biting surprises.
Odds: 46,472/1
Last year, Chelsea fan Dean Clay beat odds of 46,472/1, correctly predicting the outcomes of 14 English soccer matches. His £2 ($2.90) accumulator bet ballooned into £92,944 ($135k) – no doubt the post-match drinks were on him.
Odds: 48,291/1
One seriously lucky mixed martial arts gambler bet a single dollar (69p) on nine underdogs to win at the UFC Fight Night 61 event in February 2015. The rank outsiders were victorious and the unnamed fan picked up a $48,291 (£33k) payout.
Odds: 133,333/1
Last December, an anonymous Sky Bet customer in the UK put down a stake of just 15p (22¢) – the tiniest in our round-up – on a four-fold soccer accumulator. Correctly calling the outcome of all four games, he received a £20,000 ($29k) payout.
Odds: 180,000/1
Back in February, a 27-year-old man from London nailed one of the biggest odds wins of all time at bookmaker William Hill when his £1 ($1.45) 16-fold accumulator bet paid off. The results of all 16 games were as he predicted, and the lucky Londoner banked £180,000 ($260k).
Odds: 200,000/1
Ron Nicholson from Dorset, England scored piles of cash in 2004 after placing a £4 ($5.80) accumulator bet. He chose six different horses from six races and bet on them to win. Beating odds of up to 200,000/1, the six steeds didn't disappoint and Nicholson bagged £800,000 ($1.2m).
Odds: 206,262/1
With the luck of the Irish on his side, a Galway-based punter relieved bookmaker Paddy Power of €206,262 (£163k / $237k) in February 2015 after winning a 17-team soccer accumulator bet with a stake of just €1 (79p / $1.15).
Odds: 650,000/1
Craig Bazier, a bin cleaner from Mansfield, England, stung his unlucky bookmaker for £1.3 million ($1.9m) in 2014, after staking just £2 ($2.90) on six horses to win selected races in the UK. Wow.
Odds: 683,739/1
A super-fortunate individual from the Mediterranean island of Malta converted €1 (79p / $1.15) into €683,739 (£542k / $785k), after correctly guessing the outcome of 19 European soccer matches.
Odds: 688,404/1
In November 2011, a 41-year-old soccer gambler – who opted to remain anonymous – placed an audacious 19-team accumulator bet, staking just 85p ($1.23) at odds of 688,404/1. His hunches proved right and the man netted £585,143 ($848k).
Odds: 700,000/1
After putting down a stake of just £2 (£2.90), plumber Steve Whiteley picked all six winners in the Tote jackpot at Exeter racecourse in March 2011, winning the grand prize of £1.4 million ($2m) – the biggest payout in our round-up – against odds of 700,000/1.
Odds: 1,666,666/1
Beating extreme odds of 1,666,666/1, Mick Gibbs, a Manchester United fan from Staffordshire in England, predicted the results of 15 soccer and rugby matches during the 2013 season, transforming his meagre stake of 30p (43¢) into a bumper £500,000 ($724k).
Odds: 2,000,000/1
In 2008, Yorkshireman Fred Craggs defied record-breaking odds of 2,000,000/1 to take home a cool £1 million ($1.5m) on a 50p (72¢) eight horse accumulator for races at Sandown, Wolverhampton and Dubai.
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