A WA punter dubbed a 'genius' by the betting agency he took $240,000 from in one Melbourne Cup bet, apparently has an accident to thank for the immense size of his windfall.
Josh Webber, a Bakers Hill resident who runs the Loosefoot Saloon Bar, was reported by The West Australian to be the WA man who incredibly turned a $10 Sportsbet.com.au outlay into $241,744 by picking the first four in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup - in correct order.
More News Videos
Litter and laughter as Melbourne Cup closes
As thousands flock to the trains, seagulls flock to the scraps as Melbourne Cup draws to a close.
The finishing order of winner Almandin, followed by Heartbreak City, Hartnell and Qewy, paid $24,174 for a $1 outlay.
But although Mr Webber reportedly identified the first four horses correctly, the "in order' element of his bet appears to have been sheer luck.
"I thought I had them [the horses] boxed but with the odds I think it must have been in order," he reportedly said.
"It was just a stab in the dark."
Mr Webber, who apparently plans on putting most of the money back into his pub (including installing a TAB), was described as an "absolute genius" by Sportsbet's Christian Jantzen, but wasn't the only WA gambler enjoying a big collect after the race that stops a nation.
A string of other West Australian punters had less lucrative but only marginally less remarkable cup outings with the WA TAB.
In Albany, a $2 mystery first four, consisting of Almandin to win, Heartbreak City to finish second and then either Hartnell or Qewy to finish third or fourth, netted its owner $24, 174.
A Geraldton punter had $50 on the trifecta - in order - and picked up a very handy $77,065.
And another WA TAB user had $24, 174 to play with on Tuesday night after boxing the first four placegetters in a first four, with a $24 spend.
Even though favourite Hartnell finished third and the heavily-backed Jameka went unplaced, the late backing for Almandin still probably made his win an unpalatable one for the bookmakers.
Sportsbet reported a variety of sizeable bets on Almandin, including a wager of $100 at $301 when markets opened (a $30,000 collect) and then bets of both $5465.7 and $5000 at $11 on the Lloyd Williams-owned gelding.