Federer's Wimbledon Title Lands Oxfam Charity 158k on Bizarre Bet
A nine-year-old bet made by a now-deceased British man landed a charity nearly $158,000 when Roger Federer won his seventh Wimbledon title on Sunday afternoon.
Nick Newlife, who passed away in 2009, made a bet with bookmaker William Hill in 2003 that Federer would win seven Wimbledon titles by 2019. He got 66-1 odds and made a $2,350 bet on the talented Swiss tennis player.
When Newlife passed away at the age of 59 he passed down the betting slip along with other items to Oxfam, a charity that provides emergency care. The betting slip put Oxfam employees in a tough spot on Sunday: They had to decide between rooting for native Andy Murray vs. rooting for a massive pay-off for their organization.
It's just so unfortunate that he nailed it against Andy Murray, Oxfam's Andrew Barton told BBC. I was just sitting there watching the tennis and I kept finding myself calling for Murray, particularly in that long game in the third set.
And then my head is telling me: Andrew, remember Oxfam gets the money if Federer wins.
William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said, This is a unique situation in my 40-year experience of the bookmaking world.
Federer defeated Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 at the All England Club.
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