Magician Dynamo Correctly Predicts Spain’s Euro 2012 Route, Wins £10,000 Bet, Donates It All To Charity

By Chris Wright

Dynamo, the magician that we’ve seen successfully reduce Nemanja Vidic (among several other footballers) to a bubbling puddle of bamboozle juice, has won a 10,000/1 bet by correctly predicting Spain’s run from the Euro 2012 quarter-finals through to the winners’ podium.

Appearing on This Morning a fortnight ago, Dynamo placed a £1 accumulator on the outcome of the knockout stages – even going as far as including which teams would advance via penalties, sealed the slip in an envelope and left it with the ITV production crew – returning two weeks later for the big unveil.

Turns out the tricksy bugger somehow got everything spot on – even Spain’s winning margin in the final itself.

The betting company, Paddy Power (who, it must be said, have done pretty well out of Euro 2012) have confirmed that the bet was placed in London on June 21st and that the £10,000 winnings are yet to be collected – with Dynamo announcing that the whole lot will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

We’ve got no idea how he did or even if he did it at all (there’s a definite whiff of ‘PR stunt’ about it), but the bottom line is that £10,000 is going to charity as a result, so the cynicism can take a back seat for now.

(Image: Daily Mail)

Posted in Euro 2012, Media

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11 Comments

  1. hug me says:

    I imagine he has enough money to have put a £1 bet on every possibility from the quarter finals onwards, so one of them had to be a winner. Derren Brown did it with horse racing a while ago. Still, it’s going to charity so hey-ho.

  2. SwissMafia says:

    @ Hug me

    I think you would be right if only the winners of each final stage was predicted. However the fact that he chose who would win on penalties adds a lot more to the odds (and to the pounds he would have put in..) and quite frankly I think the only solution here is in fact a “PR stunt”, or a trick of some sort. Just like everything else Dynamo does. This guy is indeed very good though because he still manages to boggles my mind every time. Plus he is much cooler then that Chris Angel guy in America.

  3. Gary C says:

    Certainly suspect considering his new TV show started yesterday.

    I hate being cynical :-(

  4. honesternie says:

    Something seems quite fishy about this. If his bet was placed just before the quarterfinal matches were played (as the DailyMail reports), then there were only 128 possible outcomes (0.5^7). It’s difficult to believe that any sportsbook would give 10000:1 odds on any combination of results at that stage, let alone a combination of results that includes no real surprises at the quarterfinal stage and only one surprise in the semifinals. Maybe a bet on a Greece-Czech Republic final, with a French victory over Spain in the quarterfinals, could have drawn such long odds, but there’s no way a Spanish victory over Italy coupled with victories for Portugal and Germany in the quarterfinals was deemed as such an incredibly unlikely result.

  5. MaxMad says:

    A tenner on Paddy Power having an influence here. Another PR stunt?

  6. Fitz says:

    Obviously not as it seems, or else he would’ve just said his predictions aloud live on air. Also no such things as elves.

  7. Al says:

    this is 100% an ad for PaddyPower that relies on his quick hands to switch out the sealed betting ticket for this one. Good on PaddyPower AGAIN for getting exposure at and after the Euros. All this and it only cost them £10k donation to a charity. win win.

  8. Adam says:

    While Dynamo is fantastic this is almost certainly a promo stunt. The new season of his show just started this week, the euros just ended, and PaddyPower always wants advertising. This is a win all around. PaddyPower gets advertising, Dynamo gets advertising, and a charity gets 10 grand and worldwide mentioning.

  9. plops says:

    Al and Adam hit the nail on the head. I fully expect the ‘don’t be so cynical mob’ to come out soon.

    I fucking hate “magic”. If it was actually magic and not a trick it would be brilliant. But it isn’t. Also, if he thought he was going to win, why did the cheapskate only make it £10k? Make it at least a million. Oh yeah, I know why..

  10. plops says:

    Al and Adam hit the nail on the head.

    Also, if he thought he was going to win, why did the cheapskate only make it £10k? Make it at least a million. Oh yeah, I know why..

  11. GOMH* says:

    Hate to say it but Dynamo employs huge amounts of camera trickery / stooges / editing. If that makes me a spoilsport then so be it. I know enough about magic to know where he’s at. He does have a tremendous amount of charisma but his stagecraft is mainly a sham …

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