A newly retired factory worker is celebrating after winning more than £27,000 on a £2.47 penny bet – and he plans to give nearly half of it to his younger brother.
Derek Marsden’s windfall came after he successfully picked six out of eight winners in horse races at Chester, Limerick, Hexham and Bath in a 1p Goliath wager at Betfred in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on Saturday June 16.
A Goliath wager is where a punter bets on the results of eight races, split into 247 different bets covering every possible outcome. These include doubles (the result of two of the races), trebles (three races) and so on.
Derek Marsden’s windfall came after he successfully picked six out of eight winners in horse races at Chester, Limerick, Hexham and Bath in a 1p Goliath wager at Betfred in Worksop
Under the terms of his wager – a total stake of £2.47 – he had 15 winning doubles, 20 trebles, 15 fourfolds, six fivefolds and an accumulator.
In total the 65-year-old won £27,326.
Within minutes of his windfall Mr Marsden called his younger brother, Andrew, who also lives in Worksop, and told him: ‘Don’t worry any more, your mortgage is paid off.’
Derek is giving £12,000 to Andrew, 62, who suffers with spinal injuries and has had three heart attacks.
Andrew said: ‘I just can’t thank Derek enough. It’s a brilliant feeling after all the worry from struggling with a fractured spine and three heart attacks.
‘We have always been close, talking to each other at least every and and doing the same sort of things.’
Derek, who retired from his job as a health and safety risk assessor at Kraft Foods in Sheffield last month, said: ‘Our parents brought Andrew and I up like this.
‘If you can’t look out for your family then who can you look out for? We are like two peas in a pod.’
Derek also plans on sharing his winnings with his wife Julie on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New Zealand.
Reflecting on his winning 1p Goliath bet, which he described as a ‘bit of fun for less than a pint of beer’, he said: ‘I checked the results online at tea time and then calculated how much I thought I had won.
‘I thought there might be something wrong but I told Julie what I might have won and she said ‘oh yeah’ so I walked quite quickly round to Betfreds.
‘The deputy manager, Joe Darby, was as excited as me and he had his arms up then clapped me so I knew I had the biggest win of my life. I can hardly believe it considering the size of my stake.
Within minutes of his windfall Mr Marsden (pictured left) called his younger brother Andrew, (right) who lives in Worksop, and told him: ‘Don’t worry any more, your mortgage is paid off’
‘My biggest win until now was £1,200 when I went through the card at Lingfield five years ago.’
Betfred founder Fred Done congratulated Derek on his win.
He said: ‘You could say Derek, who retired three weeks ago from Kraft Foods, has taken the biscuit.
‘It is amazing that so many lives have been changed for the better from such a tiny stake.
‘The only crumb of comfort for me is that Derek is a Betfred regular and I will be thinking of him next time I’m dunking my biccy in my morning cuppa.’