UK charity may win thousands based on dead man’s bets

A man from Oxfordshire has left his whole estate to charity Oxfam, including a series of betting slips, which could potentially be worth in excess of £330,000.

Nicholas Newlife, who died in 2009, aged 69, left all his possessions to the charity, and Oxfam were delighted when they discovered that amongst the belongings were a series of long-term wagers, totalling £4,420.

The bets relate to both tennis and cricket, were placed with William Hill between 2000 and 2005, and have already, thanks to Roger Federer’s French open victory last year, netted £16,750 for Oxfam.

One of the bets placed by Nicholas was that the Swiss ace would win Wimbledon seven times before 2020, with £1,520 being placed at odds of 66/1. If Federer wins this summer, the charity will be celebrating to the tune of £101,840.

If all the bets turn out to be winners, the charity's windfall would total over £330,000 - enough to provide emergency rations for 46,000 famine victims, or to supply safe drinking water for 350,000 people.

Oxfam’s Cathy Ferrier said of the potential windfall:

"We're enormously grateful to Mr Newlife for his generous gift, and will be keeping a close eye on Wimbledon this year as a result.

"Every time someone leaves us a gift in their will, whether a few pounds or a few thousands pounds, it helps us make a huge difference to thousands of lives around the world.”

And although WilliamHill may have to pay-out a staggering amount of money, company spokesman Graham Sharpe said the firm would be delighted to do so:

"When Nicholas wrote to me nine years ago to place the bets, they were straightforward but potentially valuable.

"When the first wins came in he was still alive, but the next I heard was he had died and left his slips to charity.

"I think he was a bit of a loner but we'd be very pleased for Oxfam if they won."

Nick's wagers:

£250 on Roger Federer to win at least 14 grand slam titles before 2020 at 66/1
£1,000 on Andy Roddick to win at least 7 grand slam singles titles before 2020 at 33/1
£250 on West Indian cricketer Ramnaresh Sarwan to make more than 9,000 test match runs by end of 2019 at 250/1
£1520 on Federer to win Wimbledon men's singles at least 7 times before 2020 at 66/1
£1,000 on Andy Roddick to win at least 7 grand slam singles titles before 2020 at 33/1
£750 on Andy Roddick to win at least 10 grand slam singles titles before 2020 at 100/1
£350 on Ramnaresh Sarwan to make over 7,000 test match runs by end of 2019 at 50/1
£300 on Ramnaresh Sarwan to make more than 8,000 test match runs by end of 2019 at 100/1
£250 on Ramnaresh Sarwan to make more than 9,000 test match runs by end of 2019 at 250/1