Man wins over 900,000 Turkish Liras in betting game

İZMİR - Doğan News Agency

Ferdi Sılay shows off his winning coupon after correctly predicting the half-time and full-time results of four matches. DHA photo

A man in the Aegean province of İzmir has won over 900,000 Turkish Liras in the nationwide betting game “İddia” after playing separate coupons on the same four matches, winning 468,512 liras on each.

Ferdi Sılay, 25, placed his bets on Feb. 22 with a coupon that cost him just two liras, but the odds for each prediction coming true were 22:1.

Sılay headed to a local Ziraat Bank branch to collect his reward, but bank officials told him that such an amount could not be paid from the local branch.  Sılay then went to downtown İzmir where he received the rest of his pay.

The amount, totaling 937,024 liras, is the highest ever won in the game.

Sılay successfully predicted that Deportivo La Coruna would be leading at half-time against Real Madrid before losing, that Sevilla would be in front of Barcelona at the interval before losing, that Kasımpaşa would be ahead against Fenerbahçe at the break before being defeated and that Orduspor would be edging Galatasaray at the intermission before ultimately falling to defeat.