Peter 🥷

A man bet €60 on two horses and believed he had turned it into €319,440. Ladbrokes refused to pay, citing a racing investigation he wasn’t part of. He launched High Court proceedings, and a year later he got a fraction of it. – Dylan Phelan, 25, from Dungarvan in County Waterford, worked at a racing stable for trainer Declan Queally. – On April 19, 2024, he walked into a Ladbrokes shop in Limerick City and placed a €30 each-way double on two of Queally’s horses. – He took Ladbrokes’ early prices of 80/1 and 125/1. – Rocky’s Diamond won a maiden hurdle at Limerick, and 22 minutes later Diamond Nora won a mares’ maiden hurdle at Ballinrobe. – His €60 stake had become €319,440. – But when he went to collect, Ladbrokes wouldn’t pay. – The company said it would hold the bet until the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board finished investigating the two races. – Race stewards had referred both winners to the regulator because of their apparent improvement in form. – The regulator confirmed that Phelan was not under investigation. – Other bookmakers had paid him on smaller bets on the same horses. – Ladbrokes’ shop terms capped the payout on a bet like his at €100,000. – Phelan said the investigation had nothing to do with him. – Ladbrokes said it waits for an investigation to finish when a sporting body is looking into events it has taken notable bets on. – Phelan launched High Court proceedings and waited for a hearing date. – More than a year later, his story went public and spread to millions of views online. – Eleven days later, in April 2025, Ladbrokes agreed to settle the bet after talks with the regulator. – He was paid €100,000, not the €319,440 on his ticket. He risked €60 on a double that won €319,440. Both horses won, the regulator cleared him, and he waited a year while Ladbrokes held his money. In the end, he was paid, but only a third of what his ticket said.

A 38 year old joiner from near Rochdale opened an email at 6am, thought he had won £2.30, checked his account, and realised it was £58 MILLION. He drove to his parents' house and passed his phone through the window so they could check his numbers. His mum shouted out to ask if she could retire now. > Ryan Hoyle is a 38 year old self-employed joiner from near Rochdale. > He normally bought his EuroMillions tickets in store, but during the 2020 lockdown he had been playing online. > On Friday April 17 2020 the winning numbers were 16, 28, 32, 37 and 45 with Lucky Stars 1 and 11. > He woke up early on Saturday morning and checked his emails at 6am. > There was one from the National Lottery titled "You've Won." > He thought he had won £2.30. > He logged into his account and saw a lot of numbers. He thought it might be millions, but he couldn't make sense of what he was looking at. > He said he was shaking and needed a second opinion. > The first people he called were his mum and dad. They assumed he was ringing because he had locked himself out. > He jumped in his van and drove round to their house. > Lockdown meant he couldn't go inside, so he passed his phone through the window. > They checked his numbers against another website, just to be sure. > It was real. He had won £58,366,487 and was the only winner. > The prize put him 20th on the National Lottery millionaire rich list. > He claimed it less than 24 hours after the draw. > His dad congratulated him from inside the house. > His mum shouted out asking if she could retire now. > His mum works as a cleaner at the local school and had been struggling with a sore hip for years. > His dad works at a factory. > Ryan said: "Basically Mum, Dad and my brother can all retire this week." > He said he would keep working on the refurbishment of his brother's house despite the win. > He was renting a one-bed flat and planned to buy a home for himself and his 11 year old daughter. > He celebrated with a drink in the sunshine with his brothers, keeping two metres apart. A joiner thought he had won £2.30, realised it was £58 MILLION, drove to his parents' house, passed his phone through the window, and his mum asked if she could retire now.