A 59 year old Bloemfontein-based player ended the long weekend on a thrilling winning note when he scooped the R880 000 Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge all-or-nothing jackpot after enduring a nerve-wracking final stages of the eighth race on the Hollywoodbets Greyville card.
On a programme where favourites scored in five of the eight races, player Trip2Cairo sweated as promising apprentice Nirvan Nastili kept the Kom Naidoo-trained One Too Many going to hold off a flying determined late shout from Louis Goosen’s Mask On in the 1000m MR 80 Handicap.
Nirvan Nastili keeps One Too Many at his task to make it a massive day for Trip2Cairo (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Trip2Cairo, a retired SANDF military man, found all eight winners on the card to come out tops of 11230 opponents.
He could have doubled his return had he wagered the base amount of R50 on the competition’s programmatically generated betslip, but failed to tick the block and says that he will seriously consider outlaying the minimum R50 bet in the free-to-play challenge going forward.
Over R30 million has been paid out in the Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge, South Africa’s all-time most popular horseracing competition.
Asked how he generally makes his selections, Trip2Cairo conceded that as a fairly novice player – he only found his passion for horseracing in 2023 – he relies on an element of luck, and some basic form study.
“I don’t spend a lot of time on it. And I didn’t even follow the racing today. When I got the call, I was stunned. Thanks to Hollywoodbets for giving me this opportunity at a lifechanger,” added the father of two, who declared that he would be using the windfall wisely and buying himself a new car, while also helping his family.
Asked what the first thing he was going to do after talking to us, Trip2Cairo said he was going to crack open a bottle of wine and celebrate the moment with his family.
Just one of the eight! Tobacconist (Sean Veale) makes it two on the trot on Sunday for the Hollywood Syndicate and MJ Odendaal (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The popular free-to-play competition has created a host of winners over the past four years, and requires players to select the winner of each race on local racemeetings, as well as on Hong Kong and Singapore fixtures.
While Trip2Cairo failed to do so, players have an opportunity to double their potential payout by wagering a minimum of R50 on the programmatically generated betslip.
For local racemeetings, the value of the all-or-nothing prize is determined by the number of runners multiplied by R10 000, for all venues.
For example, if there are 91 carded runners and 3 scratchings, then the all-or-nothing prize will be based on the nett 88 runners at R10 000 each, giving a value of R880 000 as the prize.
Hong Kong action (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
For Hong Kong and Singapore racemeetings, the jackpot prize is as follows:
With 8 or 9 races carded and completed R125 000 (or R250 000 with a betslip minimum of R50) or with 10 or more races carded and completed, R250 000 (or R500 000 with a betslip mimum of R50).
Over and above the premier aim of finding all the winners, daily prize money of R5 000 for each of the scheduled race meetings will be shared by the top 20 players on the points leaderboard at the end of the day.
The winner will be awarded R2 000, with the runner-up R1 000 and the balance apportioned in terms of the published rules down to the 20th finisher.
These payouts are also doubled if the minimum R50 wager on the bet slip is taken!
The Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge is really easy to understand and to play.
All you need is a Hollywoodbets account and the choice is yours to either select one horse in each of the races at the designated race meeting or opt to make use of one of the ‘quick-pick’ options and take a chance!
Don’t leave your entry late – the gate closes five minutes before the off of the first race in all centres.
Have a look at the brand new Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge website, and consider forming a league to compete amongst friends, work colleagues or family!
With the abandonment of the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth racemeeting on Tuesday 13 August, the next chance to win big on the Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge will be at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday 14 August.
Off time of the first is at 12h30.
