Lucky punter nets €69,457

WHILE punters were losing millions at Cheltenham on Wednesday, one astute Limerick gambler scooped €69,457 at one Ladbrokes office with just a 30c bet.

The winning bet was placed by an unknown customer at Ladbrokes office on Parnell Street.

By yesterday afternoon, the lucky racing fan had not collected the winnings.

The winning gamble was a Lucky 63 bet which involves selecting six horses. The winning docket had six horses from Cheltenham and four of the six won at huge odds. The winners were Nicanor (17-2), Newmill (16-1), You're Special (33-1) and Hairy Molly (33-1).

The stake was just 30 cents multiplied by 63 to make a wide variety of singles, doubles, trebles and a four-timer.

The bet was placed just over a half hour before the first winner Nicanor struck in the 2pm race.

Branch staff member Joan Conlan said: "We're delighted for the customer and it's great to see somebody bring off a great win like this."

Office manager Moire O'Malley, who took the bet, said: "The 30 cent stake in the lucky 63 involves a multiple of 30 cent by 63 so it meant a total investment of €18.90.

"After the third winner came up on the computer, it showed that the docket had won around €2,500 going into the last race where Hairy Molly was the customer's selection. We informed our head office that we had a liability of over €69,000 if Hairy Molly won and she did."

Ladbrokes said the customer can collect their winnings at any of their 120 offices in this country or Britain.