Soccer-Leicester fan accepts 72,000 pounds offer on 5,000-1 bet

LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - An anonymous gambler has pocketed 72,000 pounds ($102,715) after cashing in on a 50-pounds bet he wagered at the start of the season on Leicester City winning the Premier League at odds of 5,000-1.

The Leicester fan decided to take the offer from a British bookmaker before the league leaders won 1-0 at Watford on Saturday.

If he had held on until the end of the match the offer would have risen to 91,000 pounds. If Leicester do go on to win the title the bet would have been worth 250,000 pounds.

"I'm ecstatic. I read the papers on Saturday morning and thought it's time to cash out," the anonymous fan was quoted as saying on the Ladbrokes (LSE: LAD.L - news) website (www.ladbrokes.com) on Monday.

"Win (Taiwan OTC: 4949.TWO - news) or lose the league I'm looking forward to the rest of the season ahead. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) will mean so much if we win so there's no point in being greedy.

"A holiday to Spain is a certainty followed by paying off the mortgage with the winnings."

Leicester, who are five points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur with nine matches to play, are chasing their first-ever top-flight title.

City's next game is at home to second-bottom Newcastle United next Monday. Ladbrokes now rate Leicester at 5-4 to finish the season as champions.

($1 = 0.7010 pounds) (Writing by Tony Jimenez; editing by Ken Ferris)