Cheltenham Festival punter agonising over £500,000 accumulator takes a partial cash-out

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After ‘four hours’ sleep and a long 5am walk’, the lucky punter sitting on THAT viral £500,000 accumulator has opted to take a partial cash-out, meaning he has scooped £250,000 from his incredible £5 bet – and is blowing a huge sigh of relief after his final pick, which would’ve netted him £322,000, fell in the first race of the day!

Paul Dean’s mammoth five-fold accumulator went viral on Wednesday after Bob Olinger clinched victory in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham, meaning he was just one race away from sealing over half a million pounds.

His Twitter post, from the handle @istabraq_king, left thousands waiting with bated breath to hear what he was going to do, and he kept people guessing overnight before finally revealing his decision.

Posting early on Thursday morning, Dean said: ‘So after celebrations last night, 4 hours sleep, an hours walk at 5am I’ve decided to take a partial cash out offer of 300 Envoi / 250 the field. 

‘With other bets my position on the race is £322,000 Envoi or £250,000 the field. Thanks to @BetfairBarry @Betfair #ComeOnEnvoi!’

Dean’s decision means that he has won a guaranteed £250,000, leaving him the luxury of watching the Marsh Novices Chase a quarter-of-a-million pounds richer.

His decision not to bank on Envoi Allen also proved to be the correct one, after the odds-on favourite fell early on, meaning he celebrate knowing it was the correct decision to cash-out early. 

If Envoi won the race, his winnings from the £5 bet would have be an incredible £300,000. Add to that his other bets and the Envoi Allen victory would have scooped him £322,000 in total, but thankfully for Dean, he backed his hunch.

Speaking to Betfair after making his final decision this morning, Dean said: ‘It’s a fantastic offer and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve definitely done the right thing,’ before being asked what he planned on doing with the cash.

‘I’ll be going on a lot of holidays! It’s my mum and dads 70th this year so we’ll be going to New York and to some of the best golf courses in the world. I really want to play Bethpage and Sawgrass. And I think I’ll buy a horse.’

Following the Marsh Novices’ Chase, Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Envoi Allen, reported his charge to have emerged unscathed after his fall in the first race.

He said: ‘Jack just said he was a little bit keen. He just launched at the fence, unfortunately, and that was it.

‘I’ve had a look at him though and he looked fine, and Jack’s fine too, so that’s good.’  

Before taking the offer from Betfair, Dean spoke to Racing Post about his incredible bet on Wednesday.

‘I’ve had a good week so far,’ he noted. ‘I put it on at the beginning of June and I didn’t realise Betfair had a max £250,000 payout, but Barry Orr said they’ll honour the full bet, which is really good of them as I was gutted at first.

‘Initially, it was offering me a cash-out of £182,000 for that reason but they’ve offered me £275,000. I haven’t decided what to do yet.

‘The thing is, if I cash out I haven’t got Envoi to cheer on, whereas if I can get enough money together myself to lay part of it off so I’ve a good win anyway but I’ll win a lot more on Envoi, that’s what I’d ideally want as I want to be cheering him on. 

‘Half the people are telling me to cash out, the other half are telling me to let it ride. My phone’s going absolutely wild. The fact Envoi had switched from Gordon [Elliott] was a concern, but Sir Gerhard and Galvin have changed stables and won, so that’s a bit less of a worry.’

The lucky punter then ‘celebrated’ last night, according to his Twitter post, before going on an hour-long walk at 5am to think about his decision, and then taking the partial cash-out.

His decision allowed him to both rest easy during the race, but also count his lucky stars after Envoi Allen fell while hoping the horse was all right on Twitter.

He tweeted following the fall: ‘Did he get up ok I didn’t see?’ 

It has been a long time coming for Dean, whose first horse in the five-fold accumulator came in last June at Royal Ascot.

That was Golden Horde, winning the Commonwealth Cup at 12/1, before a day later, Hello Youmzain at 10/1 reigned supreme in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Ascot. 

And fast forward to this year’s Cheltenham Festival, he won with Shishkin at 4/1 in the Arkle Chase on the opening day on Tuesday before Bob Olinger (25/1) triumphed on Wednesday. 

Racing fans flocked to social media to wish their best to the punter following his initial post on Wednesday, with one user commented: ‘This chap isn’t sleeping a wink tonight! Good luck.’

Paul amusingly replied: ‘Will try my best’, alongside a picture of plenty of alcohol – presumably to calm the nerves.

He then posted a picture of himself holding a champagne bottle called ‘Bolinger’ – with the caption: ‘Celebrating the Bob Olinger victory while deciding what to do.’

He will certainly rest a lot easier on Thursday night, with his bank balance significantly boosted by what is surely one of the best bets of all-time.