Saturday, February 23, 2008

2,000,000 - 1

A punter in North Yorkshire has become the first betting shop millionaire after he placed a 50p bet on eight horses with odds of two million to one. The man, who will receive a £1m payout, placed his winning bet at William Hill bookmakers in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

The betting shop said the winner was a regular customer and had placed similar bets almost on a daily basis.

The first horse that won on Friday was called Isn't That Lucky and the last winner was A Dream Come True.

The punter discovered he had won at 1200 GMT on Saturday when he went into another William Hill branch in Bedale, 15 miles away from the branch were he placed his 50p bet.

Graham Sharpe from the bookmakers said: "He placed five more 50p bets for Saturday's racing, then asked staff to check his betting slip from the day before. When they told him he had £1m to come but would have to collect it from the Thirsk shop, he went visibly pale before saying that he would have to go and tell his wife."

The customer, who has not been identified but lives in the local area, landed an eight-horse accumulator, which is bookmaker William Hill's limit on the amount of races a punter can link bets on.

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