A William Hill punter is out £120k after Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic in four sets at the French Open tennis semi-final. Before Friday’s match, the mystery punter identified only as ‘Dead Cert Man’ had built an impressive tally of 26 consecutive winning bets — all of them placed at the same William Hill bet shop in central London – but a potential £227k payday was spoiled when Dead Cert tried to go a bet too far.
Dead Cert’s run of luck began March 27 with a single wager of £8,400. The 33-year-old French speaker bet mostly on tennis, but also won a few wagers on boxing, mixed martial arts and “bizarrely enough, curling,” in the words of Will Hill spokesperson Graham Sharpe. A dozen of Dead Cert’s tennis bets had been placed on Djokovic, who was riding his own hot streak, having won 43 consecutive matches. According to Sharpe, Dead Cert laid out a total of £1.8m over his 27 trips to the shop, setting records for the longest winning sequence of bets and the highest amount wagered on a tennis match.
The betting shop staff had come to recognize Dead Cert during his remarkable run, and said he apparently planned to quit betting after Friday’s wager – win or lose – and apply his winnings towards the purchase of a house. While his £120k wager on Djokovic is now the property of William Hill, Dead Cert is still £41k ahead over where he began two months ago, so at least he still has the down payment on a house. So have we truly seen the last of Dead Cert, or will dreams of what might have been lure him back to the bookies one day? If it’s the latter, we bet William Hill hope Dead Cert picks on Paddy Power next time.
