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For the past few days, the regulars at HQ, in Saint-Julien-de-Concelles, have been staring at each other.
Kind of like a playground.
“
We look at the shoes of one, the shirts of the other!
laughs Cyril Boulinguiez, the manager of this PMU bar located about fifteen kilometers east of Nantes.
On January 7, a mysterious individual pocketed €140,403 by playing Quinté+ spOt, PMU's flagship bet which can only be played once a day.
This is a formula that offers a combination of favorite horses and oustiders thanks to an algorithm based on bets already made by other players.
The player had bet 2 euros.
“
In any PMU, it is not common.
Even more in a small town of 8,000 inhabitants
, ”confides Cyril Boulinguiez to
Le Figaro
, with a smile in his voice.
"
This is the establishment's record since its creation more than 20 years ago
," adds the man who has been the boss for four and a half years.
He has never been so much in the spotlight.
Read alsoWith “Question of the day”, the PMU seeks to attract beginners
The lucky champion was designated as a "
big PMU winner
", the first of 2023 in Loire-Atlantique, because he won more than €100,000.
In 2022, five big winners had been recorded in the department for winnings of between €140,099 and €224,125.
Who is the lucky winner?
If the subject has fueled all the conversations for a week, it is because the winner has not made himself known.
However, the latter did claim his check, according to information communicated to
Figaro
by Pari Mutuel Urbain on Monday.
The person had 60 days to come forward.
However, the place where she presented herself is not known.
“
I remain convinced that it is someone who comes to my house frequently.
We are not a city of great passage
”, notes the boss.
But he understands that the winner wishes to be discreet: “
if I had been a customer, I would have been the first to collect the sum elsewhere to remain anonymous.
Otherwise, in this situation, when you have 4 friends, you end up with fifty!
»
On weekdays, about 200 bets are registered every day in this troquet.
Difficult for Cyril Boulinguiez to remember the bettors of the day.
And this, despite the cameras.
“
I know the day and the type of bet.
But not the schedule so it's difficult.
Yet he does not lose hope.
“
Eventually, I will know.
But it's not going to change anything in my life, unlike the winner.
The manager can however savor the good atmosphere of the moment.
And take advantage of the publicity of its tobacco bar, even if for the moment the new customers do not flock.
Let's hope the trend reverses.
With the Covid-19, he lost 40% of his clientele.