Close one; Lionel Messi’s late winner saved one big punter €250,000

One Las Vegas gambler put $350,000 (€250,000) on Argentina to beat Iran at odds of 1/12. Bet he loved that late goal.

Lionel Messi broke Iranian hearts yesterday when he curled in an absolute beaut in injury time to win their Group F clash with Argentina last night. And while Iran sobbed and the rest of the world applauded another moment of Messi magic, one punter in Las Vegas was the most relieved viewer in the world. The unnamed gambler placed two bets totalling $350,000 (€250,000) on Argentina to beat Iran. The odds, around 1/12, meant the win would only return about $30,000 (€22,000) so this was serious, high stakes punting.

Here are the betting slips for guy who bet $350K to win $30K on Argentina to beat Iran (via @WilliamHillUS) pic.twitter.com/gurMjnSQnd — darren rovell (@darrenrovell) June 21, 2014

  Luckily for the person involved Messi did his thing but we can't even imagine this is how they were feeling as the game ticked into injury time.