Bookies Spared $75 Mil Payout With England World Cup Exit

Not everyone in England was upset about their team getting eliminated so quickly Sunday in the knockout round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup vs. Germany.  Bookmakers were the only one's celebrating though.

British bookmakers were spared an incredible $75 million (equivalent to 50 pounds) in payouts to those who bet on England to advance in the knockout stage vs. Germany.

England's departure from the event after today's 4-1 defeat in Bloemfontein, South Africa, spared the U.K. bookmaking industry from "its biggest ever payout" after "patriotic punters" bet on Fabio Capello's team to win the country's second world title, the nation's second biggest bookmaker, William Hill, revealed.

"William Hill alone would have been at least 7 million pounds worse off as a result of England winning the World Cup," William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said in a statement. "It was the result we feared."

William Hill had earlier announced it would be paying out on the Frank Lampard ‘goal' that referees ruled against.  Everyone else, including Germany's coach, believed Lampard did in fact score a goal.