10 lucky Punters' Challenge players each scooped R50 000 on Saturday after picking six winners out of nine on WSB Guineas day.
This article first appeared in the Sporting Post.
Excellent timing ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday, a new car, likely proposals of marriage, and other life-changing moments!
Those were the sum of the joyful and sometimes shock reaction of the ten winning players in Saturday’s R500 000 Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge, after they had selected six of the nine winners and banked R50 000 each on a champagne afternoon of high-class racing.
A progressive jackpot of R2 million was offered on the SA Champions Season launch meeting on Saturday 7 May, and to mark the big season milestone, where a must-be-won prize of R500 000 was offered.
There were 15 252 players that entered the competition, with the ten winners each selecting a variety of a total of six winners on the nine-race card.
The 10 winners were:
- Trevor
- Eric1
- The VIP
- Arj336
- Luven1
- Alan123
- Whillywho
- Spurs1327
- Foxtrot56
- Zibo
When the Sporting Post contacted the winners, some had already seen the R50 000 credit in their Hollywoodbets accounts – others had not. But they were unanimous in welcoming the cash windfall and were thrilled.
A lucky first-time contestant, Fred plays under the pseudonym of Foxtrot56 and is resident in an old-age home in Brixton, Johannesburg.
“I have never played the competition before today. But this time I thought I’d give it a go. I so truly need the money – but the problem is the old ladies are all going to want to marry me now,” he laughed.
A 69-year-old pensioner, Whillywho, who lives in Gqeberha, told his wife on Friday that he was going to play and was thrilled to hear about the windfall.
He said that he was going into the branch to draw it out on Sunday.
“In the second last race I had the winner and I changed it to another horse. So I could have been one winner. But that’s a hard-luck story and history. I am so happy for all the guys who won. That R50 000 is just like the R500 000 for a humble family like ours! This news has made my day, my year, my everything,” he added.
Unemployed Arj336, who lives in Midrand, didn’t know he had won the R50 000.
“I have been playing forever. I love the challenge. I am a small punter. I am over the moon,” he said.
Eric, a 57-year-old resident of Grassy Park in the Cape, summoned his family around the call.
“You are joking with me! I live with my sister – let me call the family. I love horseracing – I am going to buy myself a new car. Thanks to Hollywoodbets. Thanks to you all,” he shouted.
The VIP lives in Kraaifontein in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. At the age of 54, he says that he has been punting for 35 years and has his own ‘system’.
“Thanks – this is really good news as I am going on leave. I used my system but got a little confused with the 400m Dash. I wasn’t sure whether it was included. I think I went with Singforafa. But it’s really wonderful and I intend to keep playing the Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge!” he enthused.
Luven1 is a 39-year-old from Shallcross.
“It’s wonderful thanks. We never get back what we put into the game. But I am thrilled! I will be taking the family out for a Mother’s Day lunch now.”
Durban-based 60-year-old Zibo told us that he had been ‘playing forever’.
“Well let’s put it this way I have been punting since 1985. I have probably lost more than I have won. But I have had great entertainment for 37 years. I can tell you one thing – this is the biggest win I’ve ever had in all my life,” he said happily.
The 42-year-old Spurs1327 of Chatsworth has been punting for most of his adult life. He was very happy to check his balance on his Hollywoodbets account.
The Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge resumes on Monday 9 May on the Hollywoodbets Greyville race meeting.
The jackpot bonus for the player/s that select all winners on the Polytrack programme is R1,5 million, with a R10 000 must-be-won prize payable in terms of the rules to the top 20 players on the leaderboard at the end of the day. The first race is off at 12h20.
