William Hill's Unluckiest Punter

UK bookmaker William Hill has declared 52-year-old father Philip Greenwood of Barnsley its 'unluckiest punter of 2008' after he changed his mind on the result of a Manchester United-Arsenal clash at the last minute, and cost himself £795,000 ($1.18 million) in the process.

The bad luck continued when Greenwood blew a second chance after the bookmaker gave him a free £1000 bet in recognition of the previous mistake. Greenwood was about to put the entire amount on Manchester United to beat Chelsea on the weekend, at odds of 5/4, but changed his mind at the last second to put his money on a horse running at Leopardsown that finished 13^th. Manchester United won the football match 3-0.

The original losing bet was placed back in March 2008 as part of a £10 accumulator on 14 football matches. On this specific occasion Greenwood got 13 of the winners but altered his final tip of Manchester United to beat Fulham (which was correct), instead backing Arsenal to beat Aston Villa, which ended in a draw.

"What can you say?" said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams after the award was given to Greenwood, "We are in the process of trying to organize a one-horse race for him so he can find out what it is like to win, but with Phil's luck the horse would probably fall. It looks odds-on that he will retain his title in 2009!"

Bad luck or bad tactics? In the future, we recommend Philip just go with his gut instincts and put the money down on his first option before changing his mind.

Or he could branch out from sports betting and try his luck at William Hill Casino, Poker or Bingo.