The 2.8 Million-to-One Winning Bet

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Market Movers

by Ryan Avent

Main

Chart of the Day: US Box Office Rece... Is Mark-to-Market a Doomsday Machine?

Feb 24 2008 2:57PM EST

A heartwarming story of a man who bet 50p on the horses and won £1 million. Except the odds were actually 2.8 million to one, which means he should have won £1.4 million, and he's short to the tune of $787,000: his bookmaker, William Hill, caps its payout at £1 million, which I'm sure is not something this chap knew when he made his bet.

The way I see it, he didn't really bet 50p at all, he bet 36p, which is the maximum he was allowed to put on that particular accumulator, and William Hill simply pocketed the extra 14p. I think if they're going to refuse to pay him £1.4 million, they should at least return his unbet money and pay out a million pounds and fourteen pence. No?

(Via Abnormal Returns)

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