An Irish pensioner scooped more than half a million quid from bookmakers Paddy Power after placing one of the greatest Cheltenham Festival bets of all time on Friday.
The male punter, aged 69, secured the massive windfall from a 50cent each-way Lucky 63 bet, which cost €63 to put on, as all six of his selections won to bag him an incredible €558k.
A Lucky 63 is a combination bet comprising 63 different bets of the same value placed on six selections, meaning the payout was enormous as a series of bets all came good with the winners continuing to roll in.
The wager started brilliantly with massive outsider Apolon De Charnie taking the opener before Wilful and Dinoblue crossed the line first in the following two races.
Johnny’s Jury then claimed victory in the fourth at steep odds before Gaelic Warrior triumphed in the feature race of the Festival – the Cheltenham Gold Cup – to set up an extraordinary finale for our canny gambler.
FREE €5 Paddy Power shop bet inside Irish Daily Mirror every day this Cheltenham Festival!
Barton Snow duly delivered the goods in the sixth race of the day, edging out Its On The Line by a neck to secure an astonishing payout for the Irish customer, and complete one of the all-time great Cheltenham betting coups.
Paddy Power said: “What a sensational way to round off Cheltenham week – it’s one of the greatest bets of all-time.
Content cannot be displayed without consent
“When a huge outsider wins the opener the groan from punters can usually be heard all across the Cotswolds, but this customer would have been cheering to the rafters, although little did he know then what was to come.
“I’ll be popping around his house later for his lotto numbers this weekend. Seriously, well played, and enjoy the winnings.”