With the 2018 World Cup, fans and punters everywhere are starting to think about what they think’ll happen and where to put their money. And a lot of them are going to be thinking about some of the ridiculous bets that have paid off like that mate they knew bet on Leicester.

Seriously though, who doesn’t love a triumphant underdog?

From all the jokers who pulled in surprise rewards, to the fans who learnt that dreams really do come true (if you get some major luck), we’re recounting some of the unlikely wins netted by footie fans.

Making it rain with a £15,000 windfall

Forget April showers. Fortune was pouring down on Bernard Antwi in April 2017 when he won a whopping £14,091.26 on a £5 accumulator.
Whilst 13 might be unlucky for some, it certainly wasn’t for this chap. Antwi landed the big cash prize for correctly predicting the results of 13 footie matches. And how do you think he broke the good news to his partner? By making it public in the national press, of course.
The Sun’s online news story, bearing the headline ‘WAIT UNTIL SHE READS THIS!’, details the lucky gambler’s struggle to hold his nerve over the urge to cash out quick – something, he says, that his sensible partner would have very much encouraged (hence the secrecy).
We’re sure the 5 figure pay out ensured Antwi wasn’t in the doghouse for too long.

£272,529.60 payout is no joke

Blackburn to beat Liverpool? Wolves to smash Chelsea? Who would have guessed it? Well, one man certainly did.
The gambler, who opted to stay anonymous, correctly predicted the outcomes of 9 matches with a £2.50 accumulator bet back in 2011. With some down-right improbable predictions, the bookies were most likely chuckling when they took his cash.
But the mystery punter had the last laugh. All 9 bets came in, pocketing him a very healthy £272,529.60. It smashed records as Ladbroke’s biggest payout on a multiplier bet. Bet he was laughing all the way home.

The Red Devil strikes twice

Winning big on one unlikely multiple-match bet is impressive. Managing it twice? That’s down-right incredible.
A seriously-fortunate Manchester United fan managed to transform a £2.50 bet into a £157,00 win back in 1999, after successfully predicting the outcome of a series of matches. The final prediction in his accumulator required his favourite reds to win the UEFA Champions League final. Low and behold, they did.
After collecting his winnings from the bookies, the jammy punter famously swore he’d be back to do it again. And two years later, with a 15-match accumulator, that’s exactly what he did. It was now Champions League success for Bayern Munich which turned his little stake – this time, just a mere 30p! – into a massive £500,000 payout.
Talk about being born lucky.

Leicester City, the ultimate underdogs

Magic must have been in the air that fateful Monday in May 2016, when Leicester City – the most-unlikely of underdogs, the longest of long shots – managed to win the Premier League. Certainly, the word ‘fairy-tale’ was thrown around quite a bit as the jaws of fans, pundits, and bookies across the world dropped in unison.
After starting out as the 5,000-1 outsiders, their triumph was (and remains) one of the most shocking in soccer history. It certainly struck the bookies pocket’s hard. All the bets of the jokers and the big dreamers cost bookmakers a record-breaking £25 million in payouts! Ouch.

Bored of footie, lucky lady strikes £1.3 million jackpot

Whilst there are millions of hard-core footie fans out there, we know there are plenty of people who will be, to put it nicely, less than thrilled about the return of the World Cup coverage to their television screens. But just because you’re not interested in the action on the pitch doesn’t mean you can’t win big.

Okay, so it’s not technically a football bet. But in 2012, the Mirror reported an exciting jackpot landed by Lisa Potter. The fed-up mum took a chance at online gaming after feeling neglected by her partner, who’s eyes were very firmly fixed on the football. And guess what? The lucky lady scoped an eye-watering £1.3 million payout in a matter of minutes – playing with just a fiver!

We’re sure that caught her chap’s attention.

So, if you fancy yourself your own big win, or want something to keep you entertained before the World Cup kicks off, why not test your luck on the online casino scene? With slots like Football Fans, Football Rules, and Football: Champions Cup, at the likes of bgo.com you’ve got plenty of chances to kick up a cash prize.