HKJC to give out winnings despite mistaken winning odds of Manchester City FA Cup victory

The Hong Kong Jockey Club announced that it would continue to honor the payouts for Saturday's FA Cup tie despite initially posting incorrect odds, which were quickly corrected.

During the match, reigning champions Manchester City secured a late victory over third-tier Leyton Orient in the FA Cup fourth round, thanks to a decisive goal by Kevin de Bruyne. The match saw an unexpected turn when Leyton Orient's Jamie Donley scored from just inside the City half, with the ball deflecting off City keeper Stefan Ortega.

In a surprising error, the Hong Kong Jockey Club listed the odds at 8.37 pm yesterday (Feb 8), showing League One side Leyton Orient at 1.001 to 1, while Manchester City, last year's league champions, were given astonishing odds of 80 to 1 to win the match.

Despite the odds being corrected shortly after they were posted, numerous football fans managed to place bets at these favorable odds and shared their successful wagers online. Some bettors utilized the early settlement function to secure a payout of 40 times their wager, meaning a bet of HK$1,000 on Manchester City would yield a payout of approximately HK$42,000.

Other bettors "made the difficult choice" of betting on Manchester City completing a comeback and winning the match, which ultimately happened. Those who bet HK$1,000 on the win could receive up to HK$80,000.

The HKJC explained that a human error led to the incorrect odds being posted for Manchester City 20 minutes into the FA Cup match. Although the mistake was quickly rectified, the club confirmed that all bets placed during the period of incorrect odds would be honored based on the actual results of the game.