I’m a betting genius who won £250,000 from a fiver at Cheltenham Festival – bookies are terrified of me again this year

A GENIUS Cheltenham Festival punter who rinsed the bookies for £250,000 from just a fiver is back with two massive bets this year.

Paul Dean was front-page news when he shrewdly cashed out a £5 acca that paid £500,000 in 2021.

Marc Aspland - The Times

Jockey Jack Kennedy walks off after being unseated from Envoi Allen – the horse Dean won £250,000 on[/caption]

After three monster winners, he needed red-hot favourite Envoi Allen to win the Brown Advistory Novices’ Chase to land the jackpot.

But he decided to take the money from Betfair and run before the race.

And it proved a cracking decision, with the Henry de Bromhead-trained horse falling at the fourth fence.

Punters everywhere saw their slips go up in flames, but Dean, from Stockton-on-Tees, was celebrating a life-changing win.

Speaking before the race, he said: “So after celebrations last night, four hours sleep, an hour’s walk at 5am, I’ve decided to take a partial cash out offer.

“With other bets my position on the race is £322,000 Envoi or £250,000 the field. Thanks to @BetfairBarry @Betfair.”

And commenting after, with a cool quarter of a million in his bank account, he said: “I couldn’t be happier. I’ve definitely done the right thing.

“It’s all about Cheltenham for me and I love having small ante-post bets and the dream of a big win over the winter.”

Amazingly, he then picked the first three horses home in the Gold Cup the next day, winning an extra £140,000.

Dean stood to win so much because he backed the horses at odds far above what they actually won at.

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For example, Bob Olinger won the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at odds of 6-4.

But the punter backed the horse at a massive 25-1.

Incredibly, he looks to have struck gold all over again this year.

Contitution Hill is the massive 1-4 favourite for Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle.

While Galopin Des Champs is big 7-4 favourite to land the feature Gold Cup on Friday.

Incredibly, Dean backed them to win at 25-1 and 33-1 respectively and stuck £20 on the double.

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That double now pays £26,520.

The bookies he placed the bet with do not offer cash out – but if they did it would easily be in the thousands.

That’s not the best bit though.

Dean also combined Constitution Hill and Galopin Des Champs in another four-fold.

The first two legs – Desert Crown to win last year’s Derby at 40-1 and Tuesday to win the Epsom Oaks at 8-1 – have already come in.

His £10 bet on that acca returns £74,722.50.

From a £30 outlay he is looking at another six-figure payout, this time to the tune of £101,242.50.

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