By betting on a double podium for French drivers at the Brazilian Grand Prix, “Rico–” returned monstrous odds of 125,000. This long-time bettor, now 58 years old, agreed to tell us how he experienced this crazy weekend.
Before discussing your Mortal Combo, can you introduce yourself in a few words?
Eric, 58 years old. That's enough.
Tell us a little about how you came to develop this somewhat crazy combination of a double French podium at the Brazilian GP!
I started making this bet two years ago when Alpine was average. They were doing small performances so I said to myself, hey, I'm going to do a recurring thing. Those were already good odds at that time but they were far from the odds of this weekend. I continued to make this bet despite everything, even if they became more and more worthless, especially this year… (laughs)
So the odds were going up, but I said to myself: “I just have to stop doing it for it to come in, and then I'm going to cry!”, and also because I know that everything is possible in Formula 1. He There is always, on average, one race per year where there are completely crazy finishes. It's more of a superstition, it's not really a considered bet but I kept doing it all the time.
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Did you make this bet out of chauvinism, or out of Alpine fanaticism?
No, not even. Originally, it was because I thought they had a bit of a chance two years ago. They have good drivers, and I said to myself that in the event of favorable circumstances, they could very well finish in the top three. I also made the “both in the top six” bet, which was much more plausible. But I also kept my bet “the two in the first three” just in case, because I would have been disgusted if he had come home without me doing so…
At first I bet €2 but they were so bad that I went to €1. Sometimes I even put in 50 cents. I didn't really believe it but out of superstition, I continued to do it… Good luck!
Did you know that the last double French podium dates back to… 1997?
No, I didn't have that notion.
How did you experience this crazy race?
I stopped watching the Grand Prix at the first stop of the race, when Ocon was first and Gasly third, with Verstappen in between. I immediately thought of my bet and said to myself “oulala!”
I knew very well how much it could bring me so, knowing myself, I preferred not to watch. I'm stressed, I didn't want to worry. Anyway, I didn't really believe it. I really thought they were going to be caught and that I was going to be disappointed. So I stopped watching the race and then at one point, my phone started to vibrate: “your bet is winning! €125,000…” There, I felt like I was blocked! (laughs) I had forgotten the race a little, I didn't believe it, and then I saw the notification from the application… (laughs)
Have you thought about using cashout at any point?
No, I didn't consult the cashout, and that's good! There's a good chance that if I had seen it, I would have activated it, especially since I thought the bet wasn't going to go through. I don't know how much I was offered but at 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 €, I would probably have given in!
I've already had it on other bets, €150, €200, you never know what to do… It's torture. I hate this feature, if it were up to me, it shouldn't exist! (laughs)
How did you celebrate?
I haven't celebrated it yet. It was Sunday evening, Monday I was at work… I'm going to celebrate it quietly with the family this weekend.
F1 seems to be your sport of choice for betting…
I'm very interested in this sport, I know it quite well, but I don't always find the odds interesting in F1.
In general, you have to play big but I don't play big. I sometimes do combined with the 8 drivers in the first 10 but even that, it didn't go very high. The cars are so reliable today that there are no more breakdowns, so the favorites come first almost all the time.
What type of punter are you usually? Do you always bet small amounts on huge odds?
I never play more than €5.
Is this your biggest win?
Yes, largely!
Do you remember your biggest disappointment in sports betting?
It’s old eh, I was young! I don't remember how old I was.
It was a 13-player football lottery grid I think, I had the 12 good results and I had put a victory for Monaco at home, who were favorites, for the last match. They drew… I took 12/13 but it was far from the sum at 13/13. It was in francs, from memory, I could have taken 500,000 francs with the 13/13 so I still had the balls! (laughs)
What are you going to do with this €125,000?
I'm going to treat myself a little bit, but reasonably. I have equipment to replace: fridge, dishwasher… I'm going to refurbish everything! It's going to be cool. And then, the rest, I'm going to put it aside, place it. We'll see.
Now I have money saved, I'm comfortable! (laughs) It changes my life a little, I'm going to have fun, I know that if I want to spend €2000, I can spend €2000, it's not a problem. But at the moment, it's not really concrete in my head yet. I need to get used to it a bit!
Are you going to continue making this bet now that he's back? Or this kind of bet?
I don't think there will be these ratings in the future, I'm going to set a precedent (laughs). I don't know what I'm going to do now. I don't think I can fall back on the two good drivers, but we'll see. This kind of bet doesn't cost me too much money so it's possible that I'll try it again! I hope to do another interview, that would mean I broke a record! (laughs)
What advice would you give to our punters?
I'm not a professional but I've been playing for a very long time and I think the best advice to give is to accept losing, and only play what you accept to lose. Even if we have the means to lose them, we must know how to accept it.
There was a period when I wasn't sleeping well in the evening after having lost certain amounts, I told myself that it was a bit rubbish so I went back to small bets. Now, if I lose €20 during the weekend, I'm not going to think about it in the evening so my advice is this: play what you are willing to lose.
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