2024 got off to a flyer for one lucky Ladbrokes customer who turned a lowly 87 pence into £3,762 on New Year's Day!
The bettor stuck less than a quid on a 10-fold football acca across Monday's League One's fixtures at impressive odds of 4,323/1.
Lucky Ladbrokes punter turns 87p acca into £3,762 on New Year's DayCredit: GETTYBut it certainly wasn't straightforward.
No, this mystery punter needed more than their share of luck before final whistle blew on Monday afternoon.
The accumulator got off to a fairly poor start when Charlton took an early lead against Oxford at The Valley.
Get Salah, Saka and Toney to score at 25/1 with Ladbrokes, plus £20 in free betsMark Harris equalised shortly after, while it took another 63 minutes for the visitors to find a winner courtesy of Oisin Smyth.
But while Oxford put themselves in front, Carlisle found themselves a goal down at home to Port Vale with just 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
However, the hosts equalised from the penalty in the 80th minute before Jon Mellish went on to head in an injury-time winner.
Scenes for our punter, who still had their sights firmly on the match unfolding at Pride Park - and needed a minor miracle.
Peterborough, who were 5/2 before a ball was kicked, were still chasing the game away at Derby and 2-1 down with just six minutes of normal time left to play.
Step forward Kwame Poku, who put the visitors back on level terms before a 94th-minute last-gasp winner came from 21-year-old Ricky-Jade Jones!
The three unlikely turnarounds left the bookies bashed and our bettor £3,762 richer from their modest 87p bet!
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "It's the acca of the year by default, but this one will certainly take some beating when you consider just how much has gone our plucky punter's way.
"There are some huge calls within the acca in question - backing Peterborough away at Derby and Carlisle to beat Port Vale to name but two - but to also manage to leave out the only draw in the division in Barnsley vs Wigan!
"To correctly predict 10 results, including three comeback victories, two of which came deep into stoppage time… we are really taking our hat off to this punter. What a great start to 2024!"
Grand National 2023 favourites - who they are and how they've fared in the pastRemember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.