One New Zealander was far from happy when defender Winston Reid's last-gasp equaliser against Slovakia on Tuesday earned the country a first ever World Cup finals point as the goal cost them NZ$40,000 ($27,800).
Local bookmaker Mark Stafford told the New Zealand Press Association on Wednesday that the punter had placed a win bet on Slovakia in the 87th minute when they led 1-0 at odds so short it would have only paid out NZ$800 on a successful result.
However, Reid's intervention proved costly for the punter, who would have pocketed NZ$400,000 had they predicted the correct score of 1-1 at the time of placing the bet.
Stafford added that "chalk-eaters" (US gambling slang for punters who always play short-priced favourites) often placed big bets on various sports matches at small odds close to fulltime.
The vast majority came away with small gains, but every now and then someone took a big hit and the state-run TAB bookmaker recouped months' worth of small losses in one go.
