William Hill CEO Ralph Topping Rubbishes Early Exit Rumours
A William Hill customer placed a record £900,000 on 'No' William Hill

One lucky punter will be overjoyed that the people of Scotland decided against independence after winning a huge cash windfall on the back of a record political bet.

An unnamed William Hill customer placed £900,000 on a No vote in the Scottish Referendum and collected £1,093,333.33 after his gamble paid off.

The man placed four bets in a William Hill in South West London – one of £400,000, two of £200,000 and a final £100,000. He came away £193,333.33 better off.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said: "The Referendum has broken all political betting records. We took £3m on the outcome and the industry some £10m - this is more than the last General Election and US Presidential Elections combined, and the equivalent of the amount of money gambled on a high profile televised Premier League match."

Another customer also pocketed a substantial sum when he placed £200,000 in a William Hill Glasgow store, the previous political record, on a No vote and collected £236,666.

William Hill kept No as the odds-on favourite throughout the campaign with odds varying from 1/12 to 2/5, but in the night leading up to the vote, odds steadied out to a safe 1/6. Yes was a 4/1 shot on the night of the vote.

"It is interesting that we never wavered from our position of making NO odds-on favourite even when the pollsters were inaccurately suggesting a YES win or a photo-finish" added Sharpe.

"We're happy with the outcome as a YES result would have been financially painful."