Swedish punter had safe bet on 'serial biter'

WHILE Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini reacted with horror to being bitten by Uruguay striker Luis Suarez in their World Cup match on Tuesday a handful of gamblers in Scandinavia were celebrating as their unlikely bet came up trumps.

Online bookmaker Betsafe had been offering odds of 175/1 the Uruguayan, twice banned for biting, would sink his teeth into an opponent during the World Cup in Brazil.

Sure enough, more than 100 gamblers decided it was worth a punt. When Suarez duly bit Chiellini on the shoulder at the end of their Group D clash in Natal, it was time to celebrate.

One winner, Jonathan Braeck from Stenungssund in Sweden, bet 80 Swedish crowns (R128) Suarez would bite, and the 23-year-old substitute teacher is now set for a payout of 14000 crowns (R23000) for his wager.

"At first I thought I'd bet a little more, but a friend said I was just wasting my money," a delighted Braeck said.

"When Italy took over the game you knew he could go a little crazy," he said.

"I didn't think he would bite, but that he'd do something stupid.

"Then he did the best stupid thing he could do."

Betsafe confirmed the wager, saying: "We can gladly confirm our customer won 14000 crowns because Suarez remarkably bit an opponent – again," Betsafe's marketing manager Patrik Oqvist said.

"We had fun setting these strange odds and it's very nice that a customer got it right."

Braeck said he intends to spend some of his winnings on travelling to a Premier League game in England, but he will not be visiting Liverpool to see the man who helped fund his trip.

"It will be a trip to Manchester. I'm going to try to find someone to go with me to Manchester United.

"If I had his [Suarez] home address I'd send him a thank-you card. It was very nice of him to give me a trip to Manchester." – Reuters