$5,000 World Cup bet wins $3.3 million

A JustBet customer turned a $5,000 World Cup wager into a massive $3.3-million payout after correctly predicting the scores of three matches on a single ticket.

Stefan Miller, CEO of Supreme Ventures Gaming, said the winning ticket was a multiple bet, meaning that all three predictions had to be correct for the customer to collect the prize.

“Interestingly, a lot of people are betting on the multiples,” Miller told THE STAR. “There was a ticket bought for $5,000 and the person bet the correct score for three games. The customer ended up winning $3.3 million from that $5,000 bet.”

Miller said the multimillion-dollar win reflects a noticeable shift in the way Jamaicans are betting during this year’s FIFA World Cup, with customers increasingly moving beyond simply predicting which team will win or lose.

“But we are seeing that people are a lot more savvy now. I guess people are more researched and well-read, so they are betting on the multiples, small bets with big potential wins, and, of course, if they hit, they are happy,” he said.

The dramatic payout comes as Supreme Ventures Gaming reports that World Cup betting activity has significantly exceeded its expectations. Before the tournament began, Miller said the company had projected that JustBet would record approximately 25 to 30 per cent more revenue than during the previous World Cup.

“So far, happy to report, we have done close to 200 per cent of revenues from the last time, and we have a couple more games to go,” he said. He added that the company has also seen a 65 per cent increase in customer patronage since June and has already more than doubled the customer numbers recorded during the last World Cup.

“Part of what we are seeing are casuals, so people who don’t normally play sports betting. We’ve seen a spike in our online sign-ups. All in all, it certainly has exceeded our expectations. We are very happy for that,” Miller said, adding that the company has recorded a large number of first-time bettors since the tournament began.

“We are trying to see how best we can hang on to many of them post-World Cup, but we have seen that level of increase since June coming into July,” he said.

At the start of the tournament, approximately 55 per cent of outright winner bets were reportedly placed on Brazil to lift the trophy.

“But that has certainly changed since last Sunday (referring to the July 5 loss to Norway),” Miller said, noting that bettors shifted to France and Argentina.

“People are leaning a little bit over to France, surprisingly. I think, you know, on the weekend Messi fans were happy,” he said. “It is almost even, but there is a slight edge to France right now.”

Despite Brazil’s reputation as one of the tournament favourites, Miller said the team’s elimination was not as costly to bettors as he had expected.

“Most of our customers were betting on Brazil to lose,” he said. “That was very surprising. I think people would have seen their performance throughout the World Cup and realised that this one isn’t looking like how it is supposed to be.”

Miller identified the Argentina versus Cabo Verde match as the game that generated the highest single-match revenue for JustBet. He said the platform’s live-betting feature allowed customers to continue placing wagers as the game unfolded, causing betting activity to rise sharply as the match became more dramatic.

“Initially, it wasn’t shaping up to be the game with the highest volume of bets. But as the game unfolded, as you recall the drama and suspense in that game, people really got into it,” he said.

Although Brazil’s exit was widely regarded as a major upset, Miller said England’s victory over Norway caused the biggest upset in terms of dollar value.

He added: “People were expecting the [Norway] run to continue, but it didn’t happen.”

Miller said favourites had generally performed as expected during the earlier stages of the tournament until Germany was eliminated.

“That was the first real upset.”