That’s a pleasant surprise in anyone’s book.
Most punters that take speculative punts on football matches have an ability to forget about them as soon as they realise they’re not going to be successful; those bets have long odds for a reason after all.
One punter in Wicklow did just that after having a wager on Paddy Power’s Hotshot Jackpot Prize at the weekend and was subsequently taken aback when he received a text to say that he was in line for a six-figure windfall.
The punter in question correctly predicted that Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, Marko Arnautovic, Fernando Llorente, Manolo Gabbiadini, Wilfried Zaha, Harry Kane and Diego Costa would all find the net in the weekend’s Premier League fixtures to win a share of the £250,000 Hotshot Jackpot Prize.
The problem was, the punter, who made the bet online, assumed he had selected Zlatan Ibrahimovic and gave up the ghost after the Swede missed a penalty in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth in the early kick-off on Saturday.
The following text, then, must have come as an unbelievably pleasant surprise.
“For some reason I had it in my head that I had chosen Zlatan and after he missed the penalty I thought I was out,” the punter said.
“I was looking on as all my other selections kept knocking them in and I kept cursing my luck for picking Ibrahimovic.”
Even though he’s a Chelsea fan, the punter didn’t tune in to see the last of the scorers, Diego Costa, hit the net against West Ham on Monday night and when he heard that he had, he was cursing his luck.
“I’m a Chelsea fan but I was playing football myself last night so I didn’t watch the game but when I saw that Costa had scored I thought it was typical,” the punter added.
“I had no idea I had hit the jackpot, I honestly can’t believe it!”
Féilim Mac An Iomaire, a spokesperson for Paddy Power, said: “I’m just glad he was sitting down as It’s not every day that you get to play Santa Claus and surprise the life out of someone. Hats off to him and I hope he enjoys the celebrations that we’re about to pay for.”
The Wicklow punter shared the jackpot with a Welsh customer, who correctly predicted Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Marko Arnautovic, Fernando Llorente, Manolo Gabbiadini, Wilfried Zaha, Harry Kane and Diego Costa to score at the weekend.
Some folks have all the luck.
