Leicester’s success will prove costly to British bookies

Leicester City is about to secure England’s Premier League title on Saturday and gambling houses in the UK will have to pay big for this unexpected triumph.

UK.- Leicester City, England’s Premier League’s revelation is on track of securing the title next Saturday, costing British bookmakers a great deal of money in the process. Leicester, with just three losses all season, only needs one more win in the next three games to take home the title. The team has a low payroll, no superstar players and only 11 wins to show last year.

U.K. betting houses are preparing to pay out millions to the handful of gamblers who put money down on the team to win the league title before the season started last summer. Some estimates the total payouts could amount to nearly US$20 million.

Ladbrokes is preparing to disburse US$5.5 million to bettors if Leicester beats Manchester United Saturday at Old Trafford. According to Ladbrokes, there are only 24 bettors who stand to win the longshot, some bigger than others. One gambler only put down 10 pence (about 18 cents). Still, that bet pays off $900. “Surely the best use of 10p ever,” Ladbrokes said.

William Hill says it will likely pay out close to the same amount as Ladbrokes. “We stand to lose a small fortune if Leicester do what everybody must now be expecting them to do. 5,000-1 is the biggest priced winner in betting history,” said William Hill spokesman, Joe Crilly.