By Gabriel Lago
07 Nov 2023, 16:46 PM EST
A homeless man, known only as Robert, managed to turn a bet of just $5 Australian dollars, or about $3.2 US dollars, into a life-changing windfall of just over $68,192 after accurately predicting the result of the Australian Melbourne Cup.
Robert’s luck began when he casually made a spontaneous bet on the horse “Without A Fight” to win the prestigious Melbourne Cup, according to the British newspaper The Evening Standard.
With a modest bet of just $5 Australian dollars, equivalent to just over $3 US dollars, he trusted his own instincts and used one of his existing accounts to place the bet.
On race day, Robert headed to a local working men’s club to watch the event and placed his bet. Once the race was over, he retired to the club’s garden bar to smoke a cigarette and check the results. To his surprise, his betting account showed five additional zeros, signifying his unexpected success.
According to NZ Herald, Robert described his disbelief saying: “It was quite a, very emotional process, mate. “I couldn’t believe it and thought, ‘There must be something wrong here.'” He continued to update his account, verifying that his first four easy bets of $5 Australian dollars had actually netted him $106,000 in winnings.
Excited, Robert returned to the bar to share his triumph with other patrons, and they joined him in celebrating his life-changing victory. In a happy gesture, the bar owners gave her a cup of flowers.
When asked about his plans for the prize money, Robert revealed that he had been homeless for the past nine months, living in a garage. With this new financial stability, he aspires to change his life and get a house of his own. He said: “I went from being homeless, sitting in a garage, to finally being able to pay a deposit on a house now.”
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