Olympic Gran Finally Gets Her Wager Settled

The disagreement about whether or not Betfred would pay out a bet to a UK grandmother has finally been settled.

The situation started out simply enough, when Linda Aldred decided to put a fiver on her grandson winning a medal during the recent Olympic Games. The odds at the time were 200 to 1, which is not surprising given that Britain doesn’t have a good track record in the event. However, the 66 year old window said that she made the wager because her late husband had always loved a bet.

A Well Deserved Bronze Medal

Well, her grandson is Sam Oldham and the lucky gran was naturally delighted when he won the bronze medal as part of the UK gymnastics team. Aldred worked out that she was £1,000 richer. However, when she tried to collect her winnings she was told that her grandson’s effort hadn’t won her any money after all, as it was a team event rather than an individual one.

Aldred went to the Independent Betting Adjudication Service to take the matter further and the story made it into newspapers and internet sites all over the world. The medallist’s gran said that she was more interested in the principle of the matter than the money, although the winnings could have paid to take her out to see Sam in the Rio Olympics in 2016.

This has, of course, led to a lot of debate and bad publicity for Betfred. The betting firm has now finally agreed to pay out the winnings, stating that it is the “right thing to do”.