For most of us backing the underdog in a football match or an outsider in the Grand National is as daring as we go in terms of placing wagers.
But for some brave punters over the years putting money down that the seemingly ‘impossible’ may happen has reaped rich rewards.
David Threlfall was once such man. Almost 40 years ago the Briton wagered £10 that a man would set foot on the moon before January 1st, 1970. Betting firm, William Hill, gave Threlfall 1000 to 1 odds against this event occurring before the said deadline. With astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic declaration, “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind,” David Threfall became £10,000 richer. Unfortunately for Mr. Threfall, he subsequently killed himself by crashing the sports car he purchased with his winnings. Armstrong’s lunar landing – it turned out – was just the beginning of numerous loony wagers to come.
In another out-of-this-world-wager, in 1979, Las Vegas gaming pioneer and proprietor of the El Cortez Hotel, Jackie Gaughan, raised a proposition on where precisely Skylab, the falling 77-ton US space satellite, would crash on Earth. Gaughan posted 5 to 1 odds for locations around the globe, including specific countries and regions, as well as the 5 oceans. One gambler placed a $2000 bet with 12 to 1 odds that Skylab would crash in what was then the USSR. Other odds included 100 to 1 for California, or 2000 to 1 for the little US State of Rhode Island. Gaughan even offered 10,000 to 1 odds that the falling satellite would smash into his El Cortez Hotel. In the end, Skylab landed in Australia; a 30 to 1 bet.
In 1980, Sonny Reizner, a sportsbook manager at the old Castaways Hotel grabbed the interest of gamblers by propositioning them to bet on what was on everybody’s minds at the time; “Who shot J.R.?” The question related to the fictitious murder of oil magnate J.R. Ewing, the star of the hugely popular American television series, Dallas. Reizner not only quoted odds for each character on the show, in his attempt to pass the contest off as a sports bet, Reizner even listed Tom Landry, the Dallas Cowboys’ football coach, as one of the possible murder suspects. Days later, the Gaming Control Board ordered Reizner to remove the wager and refund all the money staked, citing the fact that someone had to be in possession of the show’s script, thus knowing in advance how the show would unfold.
And finally a British bookmaker posted 1,000 to 1 odds that golfing sensation Tiger Woods will one day be elected president of the U.S. They also gave 5,000 to 1 odds that former President Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinsky would marry.
