One of the biggest shocks in football history happened this season when the Leicester City won the Premier League ahead of Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City, Man United, Chelsea, and Liverpool. Claudio Ranieri brought glory to the King Power stadium, but more than few punters made a lot of money on the Foxes. The odds on them to win the EPL were 5000/1 before the season started. We’re going to see some of the biggest wins around the globe.
The betting company Ladbrokes told Business Insider that there were 47 bets on Leicester to win the EPL, and 24 of those punters won a huge amount of money. The rest of them weren’t patient enough, so decided to cash out earlier. The smallest stake was 10p, so the win of £500 is surely the best use of 10p ever. On average, the stakes went from £5 to £10 which means winnings of £25,000 and £50,000. Only Ladbrokes paid around £3 million while the nation’s bookmakers suffered a record payout of £25 million, the biggest loss in British history on a single sporting market. “We have been taking bets for 130 years and we have never ever seen anything come even close to this,” a Ladbrokes representative told Business Insider. “It’s rare to see a 5,000/1 shot and even rarer to see one even have a slim chance of winning. This is unprecedented and there are no comparisons whatsoever. “We salute the fans who backed their side to land the biggest upset in history at the start of the season.”
The funny thing is that the same odds were that Elvis Presley is still alive, the Loch Ness Monster will appear, and Jamie Vardy will become the next Prime Minister. Karishma Kapoor, the Leicester fan, and the local, bet £2 on her club and won £10,000. However, not every Leicester fan held his/her nerve, and some of them cashed out. An unnamed Warwickshire man accepted £72,000 for his £50 bet from Ladbrokes in March. He would be richer for £178,000, but decided to take money earlier. The highest remaining bet at Ladbrokes was £20, which means £100,000 for the lucky winner.
There’s a funny anecdote about one Leicester fan that drunkenly put £5 on the Foxes to win the league, and his payout was £20,000. Leigh Herbert, from south Leicester, placed a bet in August last year. “It has really not sunk in, I know it has happened but I still have this nervous feeling going around in my stomach,” said the carpenter. “I thought they would do well but not in my wildest dreams did I think they would be two games from the end of the season and be Premier League champions.” He said that he cashed out £2, and took £5,600 over a month ago, but still won further £15,000.
Meanwhile, a Chelsea fan was the happiest Blues supporter after his team drew with Tottenham – he bet on the Foxes to win the league. James O’Donoghue placed £1 and won £5,000 because he thought the odds are astronomically crazy and he had to try. He said: “People have been asking me if I wished I had put on more. “In hindsight, of course, I wish I had but the way I see it is I’ve got a £5,000 bonus I wasn’t expecting. I’m always very cautious with my bets, my sons take the mickey out of me because I put 10p or 20p on accumulator bets on a Saturday.”
William Hill said that 25 punters took 5000/1 odds with the bets in the range between 5p and 20 pounds. The biggest winner is a customer from Guilford; however, he put £75 when the odds were 1500/1 and won £112,500.
So, why are the odds were that big? The bookies seem to use their hearts instead of the head, and during the season, they hoped that Leicester will slip, but it didn’t happen. Their assumption wasn’t right, and the result is a loss of £25 million.
Leicester’s odds throughout the season – did they stay too high for too long?
5000/1 – Pre-season
2500/1 – 5th September
5000/1 – 3rd October
1000/1 – 17th October (draw against Southampton (a))
750/1 – 24th October (win vs. Crystal Palace (h))
500/1 – 31st October (win vs. WBA (a))
200/1 – 7th November (win vs. Watford (h))
100/1 – 22nd November (day after win vs. Newcastle (a))
50/1 – 28th November (drew vs. Manchester United (h))
33/1 – 5th December (win vs. Swansea (a))
20/1 – 14th December (win vs. Chelsea (h))
12/1 – 27th December (day after loss to Liverpool (a))
25/1 – 2nd January (drew with City (h) on 29th and then drew with Bournemouth (h))
10/1 – 14th January (day after winning over Tottenham (a))
8/1 – 24th January
9/2 – 2nd February (win vs. Liverpool (h))
7/4 – 6th February (win vs. Manchester City (a)) – FIRST TIME THEY BECAME FAVOURITES FOR THE TITLE
6/4 – 14th February (loss vs. Arsenal (a)
Evens – 14th March
8/15 – 19th March – (win vs. Palace (a))
1/3 – 3rd April – (win vs. Southampton (h))
1/6 – 10th April – (win vs. Sunderland (h), Spurs win vs. Manchester United (h))
1/4 – 17th April – (draw vs. West Ham (h))
4/9 – 18th April – (Spurs win vs. Stoke (a))
1/6 – 24th April – (win vs. Swansea (h))
1/20 – 25th April – (Spurs draw vs. WBA (h))
Source: William Hill
Jessica Bridge, of Ladbrokes, said: “This is the biggest sporting upset since David beat Goliath, and we can only doff our cap to the brave punters who had the foresight and confidence to part ways with their cash on the Leicester City fairytale ending happily ever after.”
Notable upsets in history:
Frankie Dettori’s Magnificent Seven in 1997 25,095/1
MK Dons beating Manchester United 4-0 in the League Cup in 2014 1000/1
Germany beating Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup semi-final 1000/1
Greece winning Euro 2004 250/1
Mon Mome winning the Grand National in 2009 100/1
Foinavon winning the Grand National in 1967 100/1
Buster Douglas KO Mike Tyson 40/1
Keith Deller winning the 1983 World Darts Championship 100/1
The Miracle at Medinah – The Europeans was 33/1 in-play to turn it round
USA’s shock win in the America’s Cup vs. NZ in 2013, their comeback was as big as 500/1 in-play
Sloane Stevens beating Serena Williams in the 2013 Australian Open – Serena touched 1/750 in play
1/100 match favorite Rafa Nadal losing to Steve Darcis at Wimbledon 2013
Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton both 500/1 outsiders when they won their respective Open titles
Shaun Murphy winning 2005 World Snooker Championship 150/1
Goran Ivanisevic winning Wimbledon 2001 150/1
Liverpool were 250/1 at HT to win the Champions League final 2005.
