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Bet I live to 100

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    Bet I live to 100

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/surrey/6586637.stm

    A man who bet £100 a decade ago that he would live to be 100 is celebrating his birthday with a cheque for £25,000.

    Alec Holden, from Epsom in Surrey, is picking up his winnings from bookmaker William Hill, which gave him odds of 250/1 that he would reach his century.

    The retired engineer, born on 24 April 1907, joked he had been "very careful" about what he had been doing recently.

    Mr Holden, who also used to work as a teacher and a carpenter, plans to take some friends to a hotel to celebrate.


    He placed the bet on 10 December 1997, when he was aged 90, with the thought that he "would live forever".

    Mr Holden, who has two sons aged 70 and 60, puts his longevity down to porridge for breakfast and "remembering to keep breathing".

    He said it was also important not to worry about anything, do as little work as possible, and go on lots of holidays.

    Sounds like he used to be an IT Contractor.
    First Law of Contracting: Only the strong survive

    #2
    Originally posted by _V_
    ...and "remembering to keep breathing".
    That's where most people go wrong see...

    Older and ...well, just older!!

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by _V_
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/surrey/6586637.stm

      A man who bet £100 a decade ago that he would live to be 100 is celebrating his birthday with a cheque for £25,000.

      Alec Holden, from Epsom in Surrey, is picking up his winnings from bookmaker William Hill, which gave him odds of 250/1 that he would reach his century.

      The retired engineer, born on 24 April 1907, joked he had been "very careful" about what he had been doing recently.

      Mr Holden, who also used to work as a teacher and a carpenter, plans to take some friends to a hotel to celebrate.


      He placed the bet on 10 December 1997, when he was aged 90, with the thought that he "would live forever".

      Mr Holden, who has two sons aged 70 and 60, puts his longevity down to porridge for breakfast and "remembering to keep breathing".

      He said it was also important not to worry about anything, do as little work as possible, and go on lots of holidays.

      Sounds like he used to be an IT Contractor.
      He placed it when he was 90 and they gave him 250-1!!!
      prob 1-10 would have been more likely

      How stupid.
      I remember the good old days of this site when people used to moan about serious contractor related issues like house prices and immigration. How times have changed!?

      Comment


        #4
        Who needs a pension?

        Simply take out a bet now with a bookmakers that you will live to 65 (say 50/1 odds) and bet £10K.

        If you make it, collect £500K pension fund. If not, who cares, you're dead!
        First Law of Contracting: Only the strong survive

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by _V_
          Who needs a pension?

          Simply take out a bet now with a bookmakers that you will live to 65 (say 50/1 odds) and bet £10K.

          If you make it, collect £500K pension fund. If not, who cares, you're dead!
          Life expectancy from birth must be 75 now, life expectancy if you reach 30 must be well into the 80s.
          I remember the good old days of this site when people used to moan about serious contractor related issues like house prices and immigration. How times have changed!?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Numptycorner
            He placed it when he was 90 and they gave him 250-1!!!
            prob 1-10 would have been more likely

            How stupid.
            What is the ratio of people dying in their nineties to those who reach 100?

            Your odds say that 10 out of 11 ninety-year-olds will make it to 100, but I'm guessing the bookies know their stats better than us.

            Comment


              #7
              "remembering to keep breathing".

              There are some people you take an instant shine to, and this guy is one of them.
              Insanity: repeating the same actions, but expecting different results.
              threadeds website, and here's my blog.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Numptycorner
                Life expectancy from birth must be 75 now, life expectancy if you reach 30 must be well into the 80s.
                True, you'd be lucky to get 1-2 on reaching 65, let alone 50-1. However, I like the principle of what V says. A bit like an annuity.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by wendigo100
                  True, you'd be lucky to get 1-2 on reaching 65, let alone 50-1. However, I like the principle of what V says. A bit like an annuity.
                  But tax free.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by wendigo100
                    What is the ratio of people dying in their nineties to those who reach 100?

                    Your odds say that 10 out of 11 ninety-year-olds will make it to 100, but I'm guessing the bookies know their stats better than us.
                    Than you maybe.

                    Probabilty of reaching 100 from birth= approx 0.0062

                    from age 90 it will be much higher than that

                    1/250=0.004 (estimated lower even than someone who has just been born), so they cocked up, hence the payout.

                    I'm just calculating 10P90

                    edit= 0.045

                    They should have offered 20-1
                    Last edited by Numptycorner; 24 April 2007, 14:43.
                    I remember the good old days of this site when people used to moan about serious contractor related issues like house prices and immigration. How times have changed!?

                    Comment

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