It’s one of the most bizarre betting wins you’re likely to read about.
Christopher Dennis was out enjoying a few refreshments with his friends in a local pub, the Champion of the Thames, in Cambridge.
As can happen in such moments, the 52-year-old lost his phone which he hadn’t put a lock on – meaning that anybody could get hold of it and cause mischief.
Dennis called the pub to see if his phone had been handed in, and he was delighted to eventually get his hands on it after a couple of days of delay.
After charging it up and checking nothing untoward had happened, Dennis logged onto his betting account….and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
A stranger, who had presumably picked up his phone at some point on the evening in question, had placed a series of 14 bets via Dennis’ account.
But far from wiping out the unsuspecting Cambridge man’s account, the mysterious punter had accumulated winnings in excess of £650.
To make matters even stranger, the bettor had cashed out a handful of accumulators to lock in a profit – the bets wouldn’t have landed had he or she allowed them to run.
Chris, an estate agent by trade, has been trying to make sense of it all.
“I’m really, really curious to find out who put these bets on – they are obviously a betting genius and I’d like some more tips!
“They must have found my phone on Monday night and decided to have a laugh sticking some bets on. I like to imagine that when they kept on winning they realised they couldn’t take the money out as it would just go to my bank account, so they handed the phone in.”
Whether the mystery punter’s intentions were fair or foul, Dennis holds no grudges – and has even offered the individual in question a reward.
“I definitely owe them a few drinks, but I’d like to offer them £300 as a thank you for putting these bets on.”
Cashing In
There’s plenty of arguments for and against cashing out a bet. Normally, it might be said that taking the cash out is a bad choice – ultimately, the bookies are trying to ‘buy’ you out, when letting it run might improve your long-term outlook.
But the lure of ‘instant’ cash is hard to overlook sometimes, and our enigmatic punting protagonist – whether they were planning to try and take Dennis’ winnings or were simply having some fun – used the feature to full effect.
The individual had placed a series of trebles and accumulators that featured Napoli, and while many of his or her other picks won, the Italian side let the wagers down by losing in the Coppa Italia on penalties to Cremonese.
But the punter had already cashed out all coupons where the Napoli game was live, pocketing Dennis nearly £400 in total.
They also had a flutter on Valencia to defeat Sporting Gijon in the Copa del Rey, with Edison Cavani as their first goalscorer. The Uruguayan obliged, as did the Spaniards in a convincing 4-0 victory.
Another series of accumulators, which featured the likes of Celtic, Rangers and Atletico Madrid, would have all lost had the punter not cashed out on Manchester United, who were scuppered by an injury time equaliser by Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise.
Thankfully for Christopher Dennis, the rogue punter had cashed out all their bets – profiting to the tune of £200!