1. #1
    Hman
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    Meet the Man Who Won $24K Betting on the Moon Landing 🌘

    Meet the Man Who Won $24K Betting on the Moon Landing
    Darren Rovell
    6/16/19



    • Back in April 1964, bookmakers at William Hill in the UK set the odds of a man landing on the moon at 1,000-1.
    • David Threlfell, a 21-year old Englishman, placed a 10-pound bet at those odds and ended up a big winner five years later when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

    In April 1964, a 21-year-old English man wrote a letter to William Hill asking the sportsbook what odds it will give him for man to land on the moon.

    It was months before Ranger 7 would give NASA the first pictures of the lunar surface and time didn’t necessarily appear to be on the side of either the Americans or the Russians.

    So when the mail came back from William Hill soon after, it wasn’t a huge surprise where it set the odds: 1,000-1. The expiration date? Jan. 1, 1971, for any person from any country to land on the moon.


    The oddsmakers actually weren’t wrong that it was considered a longshot back in 1964. Just months before, NASA internally had put the chance of a U.S. man meeting John F. Kennedy’s goal and landing on the moon by the end of the decade at 1-in-20.

    David Threlfell wasn’t necessarily a betting man.

    He didn’t bet on dogs or horses and later admitted “I’m not really interested in gambling.”


    But there was something about a moon bet that intrigued him.


    “It just came to me one day,” Threlfell told David Frost’s show on BBC of his request for the custom bet.


    And so, he became the first bettor to wager on a moon landing.

    Threlfell placed a 10-pound bet to win 10,000 pounds, which at the time was the equivalent of a $24 bet to win $24,000.

    On July 20, 1969 — five years after placing his wager — Threlfell watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the moon and was celebrated live on the BBC’s air.

    Thirty minutes after landing, a William Hill executive presented him with a 10,000 pound check on the show. He would not be taxed because he made the bet before a gambling levy was instituted two years prior.


    Threlfell said he would give half to his parents and would put some aside to invest in stocks. He also spent $3,000 on a new wardrobe and a good chunk on a cruise to the Bahamas, where he was followed around by British press.

    At the time, William Hill said it was going to hold off on taking bets on a human landing on Mars, noting the payout it had to make on the moon (Threlfell’s $24,000 is worth $168,000 today).

    The oddsmakers should have taken it, as they would have been holding money for at least 50 years.

    As for Threlfell, he died the year after winning the bet in a car accident in Scotland.
    Points Awarded:

    deltgen gave Hman 2 Betpoint(s) for this post.


  2. #2
    RudyRuetigger
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    wow

    good story with a sad ending

  3. #3
    KVB
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hman View Post
    ...As for Threlfell, he died the year after winning the bet in a car accident in Scotland.
    Just wow.

    Tragic.

  4. #4
    BigdaddyQH
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    As luck would have it. Poor guy.

  5. #5
    BetterBizness
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    Thanks for sharing.. fascinating post

  6. #6
    MinnesotaFats
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    Damn books almost nailed that deadline....amazing

  7. #7
    RudyRuetigger
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    Quote Originally Posted by MinnesotaFats View Post
    Damn books almost nailed that deadline....amazing
    You seem confused here

    Books didn't have anything to do with the date other than gave an extra year for free

  8. #8
    MinnesotaFats
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    Quote Originally Posted by RudyRuetigger View Post
    You seem confused here

    Books didn't have anything to do with the date other than gave an extra year for free
    No man

    We are talking about landing a man on the moon

    20,000 years of human engineering for an unprecedented and inconceivable achievement and the books basically put the over / under within 18 months. That's unreal

  9. #9
    jtoler
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    yawn bs cough

  10. #10
    RudyRuetigger
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    OK but Kennedy said before end of decade

    Nasa gave it 1 in 20 chance

    Book offered 1000:1 and a year more

    It was a horrible line and offer by the book

  11. #11
    Mr KLC
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    Alvin Dark said “There’ll be a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run.”

    51 years ago today, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.

    Almost 30 minutes later, Gaylord Perry hit his first career home run

  12. #12
    Foxx
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    Quote Originally Posted by RudyRuetigger View Post
    OK but Kennedy said before end of decade
    Nasa gave it 1 in 20 chance
    Book offered 1000:1 and a year more
    It was a horrible line and offer by the book
    Nowadays, after the guy landed on the moon, the book would have just said "oops,sorry, it was a bad line, we're not going to honor the bet" then proceed to ban the player for taking a shot.

  13. #13
    SBR_Guest_Pro
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    Weird that the book paid it out even though a human still hasn't landed on the moon yet

  14. #14
    beefcake
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    Leicester was 5000-1 and the moon only 1000-1? Come on man!

  15. #15
    ace7550
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr KLC View Post
    Alvin Dark said “There’ll be a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run.”

    51 years ago today, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.

    Almost 30 minutes later, Gaylord Perry hit his first career home run
    That's crazy too. Good publicity for the book. Too bad the guy didn't live long to enjoy it.

  16. #16
    cincinnatikid513
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    Quote Originally Posted by beefcake View Post
    Leicester was 5000-1 and the moon only 1000-1? Come on man!
    that watford leicester ending was unreal



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