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This punter landed an incredible bet during the Barcelona game, but almost lost out on a technicality

This punter landed an incredible bet during the Barcelona game, but almost lost out on a technicality
This punter landed an incredible bet during the Barcelona game, but almost lost out on a technicality This punter landed an incredible bet during the Barcelona game, but almost lost out on a technicality

After Barcelona’s shock comeback against Paris St Germain in the Champions League last-16, there will have been a few sizeable betting wins, but surely none more specific than this one.

Twitter user @Davidreid_88 was given odds of 125-1 on Barcelona qualifying, Edinson Cavani hitting the post, and Lionel Messi scoring a penalty – he put £5 on it, giving himself a chance of a tidy £625 win.

And incredibly, the bet came good. Cavani struck the post with a chance early on, before Lionel Messi’s penalty shortly after the break put Barca 3-0 up – the Catalan side roared back late on to qualify with three goals in the last seven minutes. There was, however, a small problem – David claimed his bet had not been classified as a win.

Cavani had undoubtedly hit the post during the game, so what was the problem?

Well, it turns out BetVictor’s definition of hitting the woodwork is a little different to most other people’s.It’s fair to say that, having attracted quite an audience by this stage, the public were not convinced.

Eventually, BetVictor saw sense and decided to pay out – a sensible decision given the overwhelming response in support of the punter.

But it might have been too little too late – David tweeted afterwards that he would be closing his account after the incident.

BetVictor have since released a statement on the matter, in which they explained that although the initial classification of the bet was in line with their rules, they have decided to make a change. The statement read: “We accept that in this case with #PriceItUp markets, these terms were not made clear within the individual bet, and, as such, have now settled all bets on this selection as winners. All of the customers involved have been individually contacted by us.“Moving forward, to avoid any confusion, we will update the relevant rule and publish it ahead of our next #PriceItUp fixture, which is scheduled to be next Monday 13th March for the FA Cup 6th Round clash between Chelsea and Manchester United.“We can confirm that any shot that hits any part of the woodwork will count going forward. We apologise for any confusion caused.”

(Emilio Morenatti/AP)

So that’s that then – no more will punters be denied by the woodwork, unlike poor Edinson Cavani.