BetFred Pays Out on Sam Oldham’s Granny Olympic Bet Following Public Outcry

BetFred advised Gambling911.com late Thursday it had decided to pay out on an Olympic bet placed by the grandmother of Olympic gymnast Sam Oldham, ending a brief - albeit ugly - chapter in the company’s history. 

The British bookmaker had endured extensive negative press over a 48 hour period after it was learned they had refused to honor a bet placed by Oldham’s grandma, Linda Aldred, that would have paid out £1000.

BetFred argued that she placed the wager on her grandson winning an individual medal in Athletics whereas the bronze was awarded to the team as a whole.   The odds were long as Great Britain had not won a medal in gymnastics for 100 years. 

Aldred said: "I thought it would be a good idea as Sam's grandad Eric was a betting man, so my sister and I thought we would put down a bet together in his memory.

"We had never been in a betting shop before. The bet was for Sam to win any medal. As I walked out I said 'this one is for Eric' but I considered the bet already lost."

Gambling911.com reported earlier on Thursday that the Twitter universe had been set ablaze, blasting BetFred for refusing to pay Ms. Aldred.  However, even at that time, there were signs the company was about to bow to pressure. 

In the end, BetFred did do the right thing.  They claim it had nothing to do with the obvious bad press but was instead the “right decision” to do so. 

We at Gambling911.com never doubted they would.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com