Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Amazing New Life

Tennis great Roger Federer made history once again over the weekend when he won his seventh Wimbledon win. Unlike previous times, this time the crowd was firmly against as he was playing against Briton Andy Murray.

Murray was aiming to be the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936 so it’s fair to say the whole of Britain was against Federer that day…except for a charity. Over 9 years ago, a British gambler Nicholas Newlife placed a 1,500-pound bet on Federer winning Wimbledon this year at the odds of 66/1. British bookmaker William Hill paid up after the Swiss champion won Wimbledon again.

As if the bet wasn’t incredible enough, things got even crazier. Mr. Newlife died in 2009 and at his death he left all his belongings, including his betting slips, to anti-poverty charity Oxfam. The payout for the charity came up to 101,840 pounds!

A 9 year bet that nets a charity over 100,000 pounds. Just as it seems that there is new life in a reported has-been in Federer, there is also new life for the charity a dead man. Now that’s amazing!

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