A 0-0 draw between Chesterfield and Portsmouth saved British bookmakers Coral from having to pay out £830,000 to one desperately unlucky gambler - who had staked just £1 on a unique 15-game 'instant millionaire' special.
After fourteen games over the weekend had removed all but one ticket holder, but a home win in Monday night's Chesterfield-Portsmouth League Two encounter would have triggered the payout. Chesterfield are on top of the table and were clear 4/7 favourites to overcome Pompey at the Proact Stadium. The southerners held on for 90 minutes and all at Coral breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The 'Football Jackpot' offers a chance of an instant million, or thereabouts, if a customer can correctly predict the results of the games printed on their £1 ticket. Correct scores are not necessary, just whether each tie will be a home win, an away win or a draw.
If they hadn't covered the bet knowing they had one result to go, the punter has probably to deal with his/her near miss in the manner of one of the poor mugs on Deal Or No Deal (if that's still a thing), who tend to deal with pissing away a quarter million with the old "well I came here with nothing" reasoning. That or drugs. Lots of drugs.
H/T: Mail online
