Bookmakers Pay Out Thousands after Sir Mo Wins SPOTY Award

Bookmakers are facing a number of huge payouts after Sir Mo Farah was named as the surprise BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

One lucky punter won £20,000 from a £500 bet placed at Paddy Power after Sir Farah was named as winner. He was first in a surprise final three that saw World Superbikes champion Jonathan Rea come second and para-athlete Jonnie Peacock in third. A bet of just £1 at Coral on that final three would have won £80,000.

Bookies were confident that Anthony Joshua would win with odds as short as 1/7. By comparison Mo Farah had odds of 33/1 that lengthened to 66/1 during the show. Coral said that two people had bet £100 on Farah at 33/1 but said that over all it was a great result for bookmakers with over 80% of bets placed on the boxer.