Soccer is immensely popular among bettors from the UK, and its unwavering prominence has lasted for centuries. This sport discipline indeed is the most popular in many other countries, but England is where it all began. Therefore, any proud Englishman regards this sport as the national sport and is very passionate about it. The United Kingdom boasts thousands of clubs, with England having more than 7000 teams organised into more than 300 leagues.
One way to show support for the favourite team is to back the chosen club when betting. Fans of the sport have plenty of betting options thanks to the numerous matches played in the Premier League and across other leagues. However, only a few were fortunate enough to hit big numbers and become legendary betting winners. Here, you can read about these lucky gentlemen and their success.
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Can Soccer Gambling Result in the Biggest Wins?
Similar to soccer, people from the UK have a soft spot for betting on sports events and gambling. Therefore, many players browse review sites when searching for the right betting platforms and casinos. Some of the casino review sites like Wageringadvisors.co.uk are useful for finding low deposit casinos (as low as £3 minimum deposit) in the UK. Moreover, players can easily find the operator based on their preferences in terms of bonuses, payment methods, high payouts etc.
However, many soccer fans from the UK decided to combine their love for the sport and gambling into soccer betting. All punters and online casino enthusiasts dream of winning big. While sports bettors can win more in the long run, casino players generally hit larger amounts of money playing slots and table games. However, some bettors proved that it’s possible to win life-changing amounts from wagering on their favourite sport and teams.
The Largest Soccer Bet Won
In 2016, Daman Chick, an avid soccer lover from England, achieved ‘‘a win of a lifetime.’’ This kitchen fitter decided to bet £5 on the outcome of the 2016 Euro final. The game featured Portugal against France, the host country. Chick predicted that Portugal striker Eder would be the first to score a goal in the match.
According to this Aston Villa fan, he and his family were boarding a flight to Greece when he rushed to make the prediction. To his surprise, the selected player scored the first goal in the 109th minute and ensured Chick a winning bet. Thus, the man from Birmingham netted £1M for a meager £5 stake.
The Largest Soccer Wager Ever Won
In 2001, Mick Gibbs, a Staffordshire roofer and avid bettor, won the biggest soccer bet ever. Gibbs earned a £500,000 cash windfall after he placed 30 pence on a wager with odds of 1.6 million to one. This was a 15-fold accumulator with a 0.0000006% chance of coming in. The accumulator bet contained multiple outright winners and individual games across 2000 and 2001.
The man from Staffordshire correctly selected the winners of the four professional English soccer leagues this accumulator comprised and of the Conference, today known as the National League. In addition, Gibbs correctly predicted the winners of the rugby Union Premiership and cricket County Championship.
By the spring of 2001, it was only left for Valencia to lose to Bayern Munich in the Champions League final for the punter to win the wager. After a draw, German players won a marathon penalty shootout and thus ensured Gibbs’ win.
Interestingly, this bettor had hit ambitious accumulators before. His second biggest bet had come back only a year before he landed a massive £500,000. On that occasion, his earnings were calculated at £157,000 after staking £2.50 on a 9-fold accumulator.
Who Won the Most Thanks to Soccer Betting?
Matthew “Moneyball” Benham dropped out of his banking job to make real money from betting on this sport. In 2001, this man, whose net worth is $20M, left the finance sector and turned to analytics. That year, Benham joined a reputable sports staking firm. Knowledge and experience from his former position enabled him to develop predictive models that he used in the Asian betting market. Two years later, he left the company only to become a matched betting millionaire in 2004.
Matthew Benham has also been an avid West London Brentford FC fan. In 2007, Brentford was experiencing considerable financial difficulties, so Benham decided to take ownership of the club a couple of years later. Today, the club is part of the most prestigious league in all of England.
Conclusion
Many punters in the UK join online casinos to bet on their favourite soccer clubs. People in the country are passionate about this sport and like to back their team by placing single and accumulator bets. Sometimes, these can result in swooping amounts of money, like in the case of Daman Chick and Mick Gibbs. Others recognized the opportunity the betting industry gives and made their fortune by working with reputable companies, like Matthew Benham.
