THE majority of punters in Australia and around the globe were left with a headache after the running of the 2015 Melbourne Cup – but none more so than one punter who used Sportsbet's Cash Out option to his disadvantage.

Sportsbet.com.au give punters the chance to “Cash Out”, which means they can take a reduced win for their multi-bet, but the remaining unfinished legs become void.

Punters use their option when they are happy with their payout and don't want to risk everything on the final option.

One punter placed a four-leg multi-bet at Flemington for a minimal stake of $5. This included horses De Little Engine, Malaguerra and Don't Doubt Mamma, which all won prior to the Melbourne Cup.

The punter then decided to “Cash Out” – which returned the punter $441.20. The return was an impressive one considering the $5 outlay, but hardly life-changing.

The punter's fourth and final leg just so happened to be on Prince Of Penzance at odds of $81 – which was better than the $65 offered by the national tote at TAB.

So what did the Cash Out decision cost this punter?

The return of the original four-leg bet would have netted $138,510.

No matter how bad that headache of yours is today, it couldn't match his.

Punter uses in-play betting to record huge win

One punter used WilliamHill.com.au's in-play option to their advantage in the 2015 Melbourne Cup to record a massive payout.

One punter placed several bets in the running to record a $169,000 win. This broke the in-play records and further provided proof that the in-play option at William Hill is a great way to make money betting horses.

“Picking the Melbourne Cup winner is always a challenge, but the punter who picked Prince Of Penzance will go down in William Hill history as an absolute genius,” William Hill spokesman Tim Ashworth said.

In-play bets are available up to 90 seconds after the jump.*

Bookies cheer a string of upset winners at Flemington

There were some favoured runners win on Melbourne Cup day, but for the majority, the bookmakers cleaned house.

The day started when Concealer won the Emirates Airline Plate as a $20 shot, rocking the well-supported favourites Missrock, Prompt Response and Motown Lil – which all filled the first four spots.

Favourite punters were cheering in the second race as $2.30 favourite Zarzali scored a narrow win – that was followed by De Little Engine's win at odds of $8.70.

The big bets of the day were placed on the Gerald Ryan-trained Spill The Beans in the Schweppes 3YO, but the talented runner was unable to accelerate down the outside and that left Invincible Heart to secure the victory.

Bookies reported that this was one of their best results of the day as Spill The Beans dropped from $3.40 to $2.80.

The best result came in the Melbourne Cup when Prince Of Penzance won at a wide range of big odds. Some bookmakers offered $101 and with most of the money being bet on the favourites, the bookies went away happy.

If punters were hoping to recoup their losses from the Melbourne Cup on the last three races, they couldn't have been more wrong. Awesome Rock held out rivals to win paying $11.20 and bookmakers reported that very little money was invested on the Corstens-trained runner.

Sea Lord won at $25.20 to follow and Scarlet Billows capped the day off at $14.40. Big bets were placed on Wawail, which finished second.

Punters will get their chance to recover at Oaks day this Thursday where there is a three-way battle for favouritism.