Falling Upwards

Early on Saturday morning, I read a horse racing tip and thought I'd have a gamble. I logged into the betting website where I was told the best odds could be found and placed the bet. While doing so, the firm had a banner above with an offer of a free £5 on the 13:20 from Ascot.

I decided to take up the offer. After all, it was free money (yes, yes, I know the 'There's no such thing as a free lunch' adage). So, I took a look over the list of horses and decided to settle for the second favourite named Search For A Song.

The horse was 7/1. I went for £2.50 each-way rather than gambling on it to win straight up.

After placing the wager, I realised I had messed up by not ticking the 'Use Free Bet Promo' button. I had used real money instead.

It was quite early in the morning and I couldn't be hassled going through the process of trying to ask for the bet to be cancelled (I didn't like my chances), so I decided to take it on the chin.

I placed the free bet on the same horse and, to be honest, I forgot all about the mishap until later that evening.

I checked the results and saw that the horse finished in second place. 

The return from the free bet was £3.50 and the comeback from the real bet was £6. So, I made £4.50 profit from the mistake.