Leicester's fairytale a $50k reality for one NZ punter
"One of the most remarkable stories in the history of English football."
Twenty New Zealanders, including one woman who bet $50, will be celebrating as hard as Leicester City’s footballers today after backing the $1001 English Premier League rank outsiders at the start of the season.
Leicester, which only marginally escaped relegation from England’s top tier last season, was this morning crowned Premier League champions after last year’s winners Chelsea drew with second-placed Tottenham (which was after its first title since 1961.)
The Guardian has today described Leicester’s achievement as “one of the most remarkable stories in the history of English football.”
It was the club’s first top-flight title in its history, making it only the sixth team to win the Premier League alongside football giants Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and formerly strong Blackburn Rovers.
British bookmakers made Leicester 5000 to 1 outsiders at the start of the season (leading to several huge payouts in the UK), but in New Zealand the TAB offered $1001, odds only slightly better than a couple of clubs.
The TAB says 20 New Zealanders took the thousand-to-one odds with bets ranging from $1 to $50.
One North Island woman made the $50 bet, giving her a return of $50,050 this morning.
A $20 bet and two $10 bets were also placed while another $20 was bet at odds of $501.
Last month, it was estimated the UK payout for Leicester City winning the league would be £10 million.
At the start of the season, 47 people placed a bet with Ladbrokes for Leicester to win the title, of which 23 have cashed out [accepted a lower but guaranteed payment] while 24 are still awaiting their fate.
"Leicester's win would be the biggest upset in the history of betting," Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes told BBC Sport.
"It would be the worst result for us financially and our biggest payout by a distance.”
Although Leicester has won the league, with two games to go Tottenham retains a superior goal difference and its star striker, Harry Kane, is on track to win the Golden Boot as the league's top scorer.
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Hamish McNicol
Tue, 03 May 2016
Tue, 03 May 2016
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Leicester's fairytale a $50k reality for one NZ punter
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