Lucky publican bets $10 and wins $241,000 in Melbourne Cup
Josh Webber has to the luckiest punter and pub owner in Australia.
Webber, who owns the Loosefoot Saloon Bar in Wundowie in Western Australia won $241,000 on a $10 bet.
Webber put down a random First Four bet for the big race.
Most of his money had gone on the fifth placed Who Shot The Barman so he thought he had won nothing when Almandin beat Heartbreak City by a whisker to win the Cup.
No one had expected it, let alone Webber. After all, Sportsbet had offered odds as much as $301 for Almandin to win the Cup.
So Webber was in for a surprise when he checked his Sportbet app and found nearly quarter of a million dollars in his account. It turns out that one of his small $10 bets had the first four horses to cross the line by mistake.
At first he thought it was a mistake, a technical glitch.
“I thought I had them boxed but with the odds I think it must have been in order,” Webber told the West Australian. “There was no checking the form or anything. It was just a stab in the dark.”
The story got picked up around the country when Sportsbet sent out a media release about the $241,744 win, describing the mystery punter as an “absolute genius”.
It’s an amazing stroke of luck for Mr Webber who took over the ownership of the pub two years ago after working as a diesel mechanic. When he bought into the pub, the place was run down and vacant.
Naturally, he plans to install an in-house TAB at his pub.
And he’s planning to put his winnings to good use too.
He now says he wants to take his staff out for a Christmas party and put most of his winnings back into the business.
by Leon Gettler, 2nd November 2016
