Salesman's 50p horse bet tops William Hill's longest odds wins list

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A fertiliser salesman who became a millionaire off a 50p bet is perhaps the luckiest ever punter, according to William Hill.

The betting firm has compiled a list of the longest odds bets that it has seen come in, with Fred Cragg's two-million-to-one punt on the horses top of the lot.

In 2008, the then 60-year-old placed 50p on an eight-horse accumulator bet, collecting £1 million winnings when they all came in.

Two of the horses picked were named A Dream Come True and Isn't That Lucky.

Second on the list is George Rhodes of Aldershot, who collected £86,056.42 after tax from an accumulator in 1984, according to William Hill.

While that might not seem a massive sum in comparison to the others on the list, it is worth noting he only put down a 5p stake, beating odds of 1,670,759 to 1.

Next up is a man from Lichfield who bagged a whopping £500,000 off a 30p bet, according to William Hill.

He made a long list of successful predictions, including who would win the Champion's League, top five English football leagues and the three lower Scottish divisions.

Looking abroad, a Maltese man won 683,739 euro (£499,000) in 2011 after betting 1 euro on a 19-match football accumulator, with Glen Johnson's last minute winner against Chelsea securing the final result.

And finally back to the horses, where one lucky punter bagged £550,823.54 on "Frankie Day" at Ascot from a £62 accumulator, according to William Hill.

While these are among the few success stories, most long shot bets obviously come to nothing. And speaking of long shots, Screaming Lord Sutch's £10 bet that he would become Prime Minister represents the longest odds William Hill has seen at 15 million to one.

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