A Toronto-area couple enjoying a Friday night movie at home got a surprise ending that seemingly only Hollywood writers could manufacture.
However, the shocker didn’t come on the small screen they were expecting.
A female HPIbet customer, who asked not to be identified, and her husband took down the entire Woodbine Standardbred Jackpot Hi-5 last Friday for a $146,937.92 payday.
While many horseplayers were left scratching their heads when the payouts on Friday’s tenth race at Woodbine appeared, the Toronto couple was locked in a flick and had no idea of their luck.
“We were watching a movie, we didn’t see it,” said the Toronto HPIbet customer, whose husband placed the wager on their account. “He just ran upstairs did it, noticed it was zero minutes, put it in, ran back downstairs and we finished watching our movie.”
It wasn’t unusual for her husband to make a wager on the Jackpot Hi-5, as he was aware that the carryover was up over the $100,000 mark. The ticket that her husband wagered cost just a mere $1.20 and was the only ticket in the $27,048 pool to correctly select the top-five finishers in order.
Longshots filled the top-five, while the public’s top choices failed to make an appearance. The average horseplayer couldn’t have predicted the results of the bizarre Jackpot Hi-5 race, but the winning couple wasn’t playing by the program page, but rather by numbers that had a special meaning.
“Part of the numbers were my husband’s dad’s room numbers from when he was in the hospital – six, five, two, nine – and then he just took ‘all’ after that and it came in.”
The winner’s husband’s father passed away three years ago.
The special numbers ended up leading to the Toronto couple winning the $146,937.92 jackpot. The couple didn’t get a chance to react in the moment, instead finding out as they went to bed.
“He went back upstairs just before bed and he hit refresh and that number came up,” recalls the Toronto woman.
“I was still watching TV and he yelled at me to go upstairs and I thought something was wrong because he had a heart attack a couple of years ago…and then I went upstairs and I didn’t believe it until I actually got the cheque in hand.”
The Toronto couple visited Woodbine the following afternoon to receive their winnings and proceeded to have lunch while enjoying some Thoroughbred racing.
“It was the most relaxing lunch we’ve had.”
Ironically enough, the couple first signed up for their HPIbet account when having dinner at the track just a few years ago.
“One time we went to Woodbine and we had dinner there at the buffet and sat at the front and watched the horses, so we just signed up.”
Winning $146,937.92 doesn’t happen every day and the couple has a few ideas for what they plan to do with their winnings.
“We are going to put some money aside for the kids for school and we could do a nice trip and pay our bills.”
With the weather now on the chilly side, it wasn’t lost on the couple the timing of their luck.
“It’s making things a little more comfortable and helpful especially with Christmas right around the corner.”
(WEG)