The £5 acca punter waiting on five Cheltenham Festival fancies for £275,000

A heating engineer and keen punter is hoping to make the bookmakers feel the heat at the Cheltenham Festival as he waits on an almighty £5 ante-post accumulator that would pay out just under £275,000 from five selections, which are now no bigger than 5-1.

Liam Honeyborne backed a five-fold for the 2022 festival at odds of 63,374-1 last year, but an accumulator on the same selections are now as short as 246-1 with the same firm, bet365.

His huge five-fold will begin with the festival curtain-raiser on Tuesday, the Supreme Novices' Hurdle (1.30), in which he relies on Jonbon whose ante-post odds are the biggest in his quintet at 25-1. He is now no bigger than 5-1.

'I'm more excited than nervous'

Mares' Hurdle hope Telmesomethinggirl is next, backed at 12-1 and 3-1 now, while Shishkin and Bob Olinger were chosen at odds of 6-4 and 4-1 and are both now substantially shorter.

Hereford-based Honeyborne has made plans to watch Gold Cup day in the pub with his friends when he hopes 12-1 pick A Plus Tard, now no bigger than 7-2, will prevail in the big race on Friday for his final leg.

He took inspiration for the ambitious punt from the well-documented success of punter Paul Dean last season, who cashed out a £5 bet for a quarter of a million. He opted against letting the final selection Envoi Allen run, which proved the right call as the odds-on favourite fell at the fourth fence.

Honeyborne, who also follows the England national football team away from work, said: "It's either going to happen or it's not. I'd say I'm more excited than nervous for now. It could be over on the Tuesday so we'll see.

"I saw the lad last Cheltenham Festival have that big ante-post bet and when I saw he won over £100,000 I thought I should put this on, it's only a fiver. I didn't think much of it, but the cash-out has been going up and up ever since and that's carried on.

"I've been putting the telly on to see the horses race and they've been doing well which is nice.

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"I have a gamble now and then, I've been to Cheltenham a few times but not this year. I've made plans to be sat in the pub on Friday, hoping to win on one horse."

Honeyborne chose not to disclose his current cash-out offer and when asked if he would consider a cash-out at any stage said: "It's only a £5 bet so we'll see how it goes."

Other punters sitting on potentially golden festival tickets

Double delight?

Ellis Sefton is hoping to build on an ante-post success from last year's festival with two strong bets in 2022.

Sefton's first bet is a double, in which he has backed Journey With Me in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle and strong Turners' fancy Bob Olinger both at 25-1. The 675-1 double is now available at 10-1 with Sky Bet, the firm he placed the bet with.

The apprentice systems engineer also sits on a 566-1 treble that involves Telmesomethinggirl, Allaho and Flooring Porter, with the latter being one of his strongest bets of the week.

Of the leading Stayers' Hurdle hope, Sefton said: "I love him, he's one of the best bets of the festival and I can’t believe he's still around 7-2."

This is not the first foray into ante-post betting for Sefton, who added: "Last year was when I actually started doing ante-post bets. I had Mrs Milner and Flooring Porter in a free bet double that returned around £1,500."

Sefton is heading to Cheltenham for the curtain-raiser on Tuesday and will have to cheer on his selections from afar on Wednesday and Thursday.

Birthday bonanza?

Oliver Walsh turns 28 on Thursday and is hoping that Allaho can provide him with the perfect birthday present.

A regular ante-post punter, he sits on a 123-1 treble that comprises Bravemansgame (8-1), Shishkin (6-4) and Allaho (9-2), a bet that is available at just 6-1 now with the same bookmaker, bet365.

Walsh said: "Ante-post betting is something I enjoy, especially with the festival, Mullins bingo is part of the fun really! The best one I've had would be Paisley Park – the year he won the Stayers' I was on at 40-1."

Teaching history will prevent him from being at Cheltenham, but he still hopes to catch most of the action, adding: "I can't head down as I'll be teaching, but I'll watch most of the races and luckily my school has Friday afternoons off, so I'll be able to watch Gold Cup day."

2022 Cheltenham Festival offers

• Paddy Power are giving away free bets to new customers and existing customers and all you need is an account. Sign up here
• Sky Bet have got a selection of offers for new customers. Choose yours when you sign up here. They've also got an offer on every race of the festival
• Betfair have lots of offers, extra places and money back offers for the festival. Sign up for a new account here
• To get a free bet from Ladbrokes today sign up to a new account here
• Don't have a Coral account? They have an offer for new customers here
• bet365 have a new customer offer available. Sign up here
• New William Hill customers can claim free bets here as well as benefit from their money back offers here
• 888 Sport have free bets for all new customers. Sign up here
• If you're a new customer, Tote are offering you a free bet. Sign up here to claim. They're also offering a free Placepot bet each day of the festival

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Sign up to William Hill here and get 30-1 on Honeysuckle to win the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday of the festival. New customers using EPH30. Applies to bets placed from 12:00 9th March 2022 until 15:30 15th March 2022. Max £1 bet at 30-1. Returns paid as 2 x £15 free bets (30-day expiry). Player, currency restrictions and terms apply. 18+. begambleaware.org.