THE Coral punter who came within a whisker of a £1million win last night has been handed a consolation prize.
A free bet on all eight last-16 correct scores almost won the Wiltshire man a bumper payout when he predicted the first six spot on.
His seventh was 1-1 between Galatasaray and Schalke but he got Milan v Barcelona the wrong way round after taking the Spaniards to win 2-0.
His dream was over after 57 minutes in the San Siro when Milan netted their opener. Now Coral have offered him a trip to the Nou Camp for the second leg where he can drown his sorrows.
Coral spokesman Simon Clare said: “This has been the most extraordinary rollercoaster for the poor customer as at half-time tonight the £1m pound dream was very much alive.
“Twitter was going absolutely crazy and the customer, @SimonTorresPike, was bombarded with good-luck messages but it wasn't to be.
“It has been such an incredible effort by the customer that we have offered him a consolation prize of a trip to Barcelona with a pal to watch the second leg. I imagine after their poor performance tonight he will almost certainly be cheering on AC Milan.”
In December 2020 we sadly 
Seen this earlier, decent of them to do it but as you’ve said before Coral will be loving the publicity surrounding this. great effort
Sick man.
Aye, you’re damn right they will Craig. They’ll get loads of people doing similar bets now.
A would tell Coral to stick there consolation prize who in there right mind would want to go and watch the 2 teams whos ruined there chance of winning a million quid
lol drown his sorrows = end up jailt in Spain after losing his mind inside the ground and runnin on the pitch to dig as many players as he could
Danny, that’s only you mate. I’d do what Willie said and enjoy the trip and experience of the Nou Camp. Surely the boy never expected two more correct scores last night anyway. Different if his bet had been beaten in the last couple of minutes.
suppose yer right Paul predicting 2 is lucky never mind all 8. if hes never been before then it would be good gettin to go for free . a dont remember the 1st time a was in the Nou Camp got a few fotos thats aboot it
Danny, been to Nou Kilbowie but not the Nou Camp. Probably take my son there in a few years when he’s old enough to appreciate it if he’s still into football. Taking him to watch Clydebank every week might put him off.
lol Nou Kilbowie thats it Paul take him when he can absorb the full tour and history/tradition of the club. If your boy has the talent and you can see it in him make sure 100% hes still intae fitbaw, watching Clydebank he might think I can start of at this caliber and one day make it.In his teen years Tony was invited for a trial with queens park an he didny go to it coz he was effin about like teenagers do …shite coz he had it and every one new it
Danny, loves it just now but only playing not watching. Plays for his wee team on a Sunday and it should be about fun at his age but sometimes gets too competitive and drives me mad when I hear shouts of “Lump it” when the boys are meant to be learning how to pass and control the ball.
aye when there young it should be about the fun ull always get Das gawn to far when there waens are playin at a young age thats fair doos when the kid makes it to 11 a side pro youth and shows potential. a done it the wrong way round a wanted to play and not watch until the age of 12 gettin a season ticket in the govan east corner with the troops was an order not a suggestion
Danny
A would take their hospitality no probs. even better if their was a tab and a would drink myself to the extremes of pishin the bed ahahaha
Aye…..1 team burst me last week for £260 so what is my consolation prize haha
We all have our hard luck stories,mine was may 2010,needed Rotherham to win promotion from lg 2 to win over £8000 from a £10 stake on a season long bet,had an accumulator of teams predicting lg winners,promotions,relegations etc,got tem all right,just needed rotherham in the play off final end of may …they were beat in the play off final by dag and redbridge 3-2 and i won sod all. Thats life as they say.
Sean, in that position you should have stuck a couple of grand on Dagenham and either way you’d have had a big win. Anyone waiting on teams for a decent payout can approach a bookie to lay off part of the bet even if they don’t have the necessary stake. The bookies knows he’ll get his money whatever the result and you’ll get yours.
Its a pitty it was correct scores or he could have covered himself..
you will know better than me paul but could he have not asked coral to settle before the last game or last 2 .
i know in the past people have just needed one more to win a fortune and have called the bookies and they agree a settlement price .
its like when i had holland to win the world cup at 14/1 ihad a 100 pounds on it and when they got to the final i just bet spain 700 at 4/7 so i would at least be g teed something
Callum, you’ve have to remember it was a free bet and the chances of it still coming up were about 50-1. Almost impossible to cover it with him needing two correct scores. If you’d put hard cash on or example an accumulator and were needing one then as I said earlier you could settle or come to an agreement over a lay. Coral were obviously in touch with the boy and got some publicity out of it which is why they’ve given him the trip. In this case I don’t think they could have offered him anything as both parties would have presumed it wasn’t going to come up.